In this episode, co-host Bruce Lesley chats with Mike Hixenbaugh, a senior investigative reporter for NBC News about the ongoing attacks on public schools across the country. They discuss Hixenbaugh’s new book, “They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms,” which documents the culture wars in Southlake and Grapevine, Texas. Hixenbaugh argues that challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory (CRT) stem from resistance to dealing with racism and repeat previous patterns in our society. Hixenbaugh compares the current attacks on public education by groups such as “Moms for Liberty” with prior movements, such as efforts to stop the teaching of evolution, opposition to desegregation of public schools, and groups like Phyllis Schlafly’s “Eagle Forum,” which waged a campaign to purge classrooms of books and curriculums that they deemed anti-God, anti-American, and anti-family. In the podcast, Hixenbaugh also discusses why he centered the students as the protagonists in his book.

Learn more about attacks on public education:

Book: They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms, By Mike Hixenbaugh

Book Review: Texas Schools at a Crossroads: Identity, Politics, and Public Education in Hixenbaugh's 'They Came for the Schools', By Bruce Lesley

Newsletter: The Alliance for Student Liberty, By Lily Klam

Article: When Conservative Parents Revolt, By Mike Hixenbaugh

Blog: Texans Standing Up for Their Students and Public Schools, By Bruce Lesley

Podcasts: Southlake and Grapevine, By Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia Hylton

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