Who are the Moms for Liberty and why do they have the ear of Florida’s school officials?
Florida-formed Moms for Liberty has been called “the political group of the moment” and its thousands of members are energized over coming 2022 elections. The mobilized, conservative group could have a profound impact on how school classes look and sound nationwide for years to come on hot topics like race and sexuality and gender identity and how policies on COVID evolve.
What is Moms for Liberty?
The group, a 501(c)(4) social-welfare nonprofit, was founded in December 2020, and incorporated on Jan. 1, 2021. It’s headquartered in Melbourne in Brevard County. The group advocates for more parental involvement in schools and backs conservative legislation.
Though calling itself nonpartisan, Moms for Liberty was founded by three registered Republicans who were either current or former school board members.
The founders are former Brevard County School Board member Tina Descovich — a mom of five; former Indian River County School Board member Tiffany Justice — a mom of four; and Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, who has three children.
According to a Sarasota Herald Tribune report published in TC Palm, Ziegler left the group to focus on other commitments. Marie Rogerson, a campaign consultant, stepped into the executive director of program development position. Rogerson has three children.
A quote they tout on their webpage: “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom,” attributed to the second U.S. president, John Adams.
How big is Moms for Liberty?
The group has more than 200 chapters and 95,000 members in 38 states.
According to reporting by the Miami Herald and The Tampa Bay Times on Friday’s inaugural Moms for Liberty summit at the Tampa Marriott Water Street that drew keynote speaker Gov. Ron DeSantis, Moms for Liberty “has gained political clout in local school board races as well as larger campaigns, including DeSantis’ reelection bid. It’s also become a target for critics, who have blasted the ‘parental rights’ movement as code for intolerance to ideas like LGBTQ student rights and a full teaching of the nation’s racist past.”
READ MORE: Conservative moms flex their muscle in Florida at Tampa summit graced by DeSantis
Some of Moms’ actions
In addition to Friday’s summit, Moms for Liberty paid former Fox News host Megyn Kelly to appear at an event held at a Cape Canaveral Radisson in May 2021.
Moms for Liberty led outreach campaigns at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando.
The group held events outside the state Capitol during the legislative season.
They campaigned against mask mandates in schools during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Moms for Liberty’s Miami chapter shared the stage with Gov. DeSantis when he signed controversial education bills such as H.B. 7, titled “Individual Freedom” and known as the “Stop Woke Act,” which limits how race-related issues are taught in public universities, colleges and in workplace training.
The group involves itself in school board elections to promote candidates who share their conservative values.
“Our focus is educating and uniting moms, but school board elections have an impact, and we’d be remiss to not be paying attention to that,” group co-founder Tiffany Justice told TC Palm in December 2021.
Moms for Liberty confronts school officials about how race is taught in classrooms, in particular, the teaching of critical race theory.
