Since Moms for Liberty launched in 2021, the conservative activist group has demonized teachers unions as an “education mafia” that parents “cannot trust,” blaming them for school closures in the pandemic and calling educators who offer children LGBTQ-themed books “groomers.” Moms for Liberty has said the unions are “radical,” “don’t care about kids” and “prioritize power over students.”
But this year, Moms for Liberty is teaming up with some of its former adversaries after identifying a common cause: fighting back against education technology, or ed tech, in public schools. Across the country, Moms for Liberty chapters and other conservative parent groups are uniting with local teachers unions and liberal-leaning parents to push school districts and state lawmakers to limit the time children spend on screens in schools.
In Iowa, the teachers union is backing a bill co-sponsored by a Republican lawmaker, who is also a Moms for Liberty chapter leader, that would restrict elementary students’ use of computers and let parents opt their children out of devices at school.
“We don’t want to immediately tune someone out just because of our perceptions about their organization,” said Melissa Peterson, lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association. She welcomes Moms for Liberty to the table, “if they want to use their powers for good.”
To the teachers union, Moms for Liberty CEO Tina Descovich said, “Welcome to the fight.”
Descovich still thinks national teachers unions are “despicable,” but said she’s happy to work with state groups. “When they’re willing to put parental rights of children first and defend parental rights, we will stand with them every time,” she said.
Moms for Liberty’s newfound focus on how students use technology, following years of activism on race and gender issues in schools, marks a significant shift in the growing debate over ed tech. Groups of conservative and liberal parents from Los Angeles to the Washington, D.C., suburbs recently began pushing school districts to scale back on providing each student with a laptop or tablet, or at least to use them less in the classroom, citing concerns including behavior problems and access to inappropriate content online.
The movement has spurred a wave of bipartisan state legislation seeking limits on ed tech, with members of Moms for Liberty and other conservative parent groups, Defending Education and Utah Parents United, testifying in support.
Rising concerns over tech in schools
“It really cuts across partisan lines in a way that I haven’t seen in a long time,” said Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. “A lot of other issues are clearly dividing people in a partisan way, but this one doesn’t seem to.”
He sees this as an opportunity for conservatives — particularly those who support subsidizing private education — “to make inroads with people on the ground and everyday parents who might not have been as supportive of right-leaning groups in the past.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a national teachers union, said she’s glad to see Moms for Liberty join forces with teachers in the battle over ed tech.
“It shows that we’re not enemies,” she said. “It shows that we may have a difference on an issue or two, but at the end of the day, teachers, their unions and families really want the best for our kids.”
Teachers unions are split on ed tech restrictions. The national organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, have defended technology in schools, though Weingarten believes it sometimes goes too far. The Kansas branch of the National Education Association opposed legislation prohibiting elementary students from using computers or tablets at all.
But in Missouri, the state chapter of the National Education Association joined Defending Education in supporting a bill to study and determine limits for school-issued devices. And in Iowa, after the state’s House of Representatives passed the union-backed proposal to limit screen time, Moms for Liberty celebrated “a bipartisan win for Iowa students,” posting a clip on Facebook praising the Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, Rep. Heather Matson.
“It really comes down to what is best for our kids, their mental health, their learning, and that just surpasses any ideological boundaries,” said Teri Patrick, education chair of the Polk County, Iowa, chapter of Moms for Liberty, and a legislative aide to Rep. Samantha Fett, the bill’s Republican co-sponsor.
John Rogers, a University of California, Los Angeles education policy professor who has tracked Moms for Liberty since its launch, said that fights over books and content a few years ago often became personal when activists accused teachers and librarians of grooming children or being left-wing activists. Attacking ed tech allows Moms for Liberty to tap into a populist energy with broader appeal by directing criticism toward companies and devices.
“It opens up space for other strange alliances,” he said.