When the Culture War Comes for the School Board
The 1776 Project PAC wants you to know it is deeply concerned about reading scores.
It also wants to know if school board candidates oppose Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, Social Emotional Learning, and what it calls “Critical Gender Theory.” The group’s endorsement application asks about all these topics and whether candidates will review and replace “equity-based” curriculum and standards if elected. 1776 Project PAC
So yes, reading matters. It seems there is a lot to cover before we even get to phonics.
The 1776 Project is a national political action committee that started in 2021 with one main goal: to elect conservatives to local school boards. The group says it has helped more than 200 candidates win across the country and calls itself the only national PAC focused only on electing conservative school board members. 1776 Project PAC
This is important because school board races are officially nonpartisan in places like Hillsborough County. Candidates’ names do not appear on the ballot with an R or D after their names. Apparently somebody forgot to tell the national political operatives.
The PAC’s priorities include some things almost everyone could agree deserve attention: reading, student safety, academic standards, data privacy and transparency. Then the agenda quickly wanders into the national culture war.
The organization claims that DEI and Critical Race Theory are forms of indoctrination and promises to remove them from classrooms. It is against policies that let transgender students use bathrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identity. The group supports classical education and argues that DEI and CRT have replaced truth, justice, virtue, and beauty in the curriculum. (Where’s Superman when you need him…”Truth, Justice and the American Way!)
This is not subtle stuff.
The group’s founder says he started the PAC because he believed progressive activists in public schools were indoctrinating children. Its mission statement says the “American mind is threatened” and describes public education as failing millions of children while supporting ideas about race and gender that the group opposes.
The PAC has shown it wants to influence local races directly. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that it spent money to support Republican school board candidates, and its executive director said the goal was to help Republicans take the lead on education issues. The group has also sold bumper stickers that say, “My kids aren’t your social experiment,” because apparently nothing says thoughtful local school governance quite like something designed for the back of an SUV. Inquirer.com
There have been other controversies. In Maryland, the PAC was fined $20,250 for sending almost 14,000 campaign text messages without the legally required identification showing who was behind them. AP News
None of this means every candidate the 1776 Project endorses agrees with every sentence on its website. But endorsements are not given out randomly, either.
The group asks candidates directly about CRT, DEI, social-emotional learning, gender issues, and replacing equity-based policies before choosing whom to support. Its 2026 endorsement list includes Brittany Lyssy for Hillsborough County School Board District 2. 1776 Project PAC
They have endorsed only one candidate in the Hillsborough County race and have spent nearly $72,000 from their Political Action Committee on texting, mail production, and postage in Hillsborough County School Board elections. The filing does not specifically list Lyssy, but I’ll leave it to each of you to draw your own conclusions.
That makes a few questions entirely reasonable.
Which of the 1776 Project’s positions does an endorsed candidate support? Which ones does she not support? Does she think Hillsborough schools are involved in political indoctrination? Would she try to remove DEI programs or social-emotional learning? What changes does she think should be made for LGBTQ students?
These seem like much more useful questions than acting as if this is just another civic group focused on math scores.
The 1776 Project PAC has made it clear what it wants from America’s school boards.
We should take them at their word.
That is a large amount of outside political money for a local school board race. What might a national PAC expect from the only Hillsborough candidate it endorsed? Crazy idea I know, but I doubt our students benefit from being cannon fodder in politicians’ culture wars.
That’s why I voted for someone with classroom and school administration experience, and who also has a child in the public schools: Daniela Simic.
Sources
- 1776 Project PAC, Candidate Endorsement Application
https://1776projectpac.com/apply-for-endorsement/ - 1776 Project PAC, About
https://1776projectpac.com/about/ - 1776 Project PAC, Priorities
https://1776projectpac.com/priorities/ - The Philadelphia Inquirer, reporting on 1776 Project PAC school-board activity and political spending
https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/1776-project-pac-school-board-races-pennsylvania-20251028.html - Associated Press, reporting on the $20,250 Maryland fine involving 1776 Project PAC campaign text messages
https://apnews.com/article/1a762995b2cce0ddbc3eceb63d1cb7f1 - 1776 Project PAC, 2026 Endorsements
https://1776projectpac.com/endorsements/ - Florida campaign-finance expenditure records for The 1776 Project PAC, showing Sept. 30, 2026 Logan Circle Group expenditures for Hillsborough County School Board texting, mail production, and postage totaling $71,864.76.
