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Identifying Troubling School Board Candidates

Updated 11/6/25

Ohioans Against Extremism identifies extremist troubling school board candidates using multiple data points.

A school board candidate is labeled as extremist if they are endorsed and/or supported by a designated hate group:


A school board candidate is labeled as extremist if they are endorsed or supported by an organization known to promote extremist legislation or policies (see below for additional details):

Candidates that have not yet received endorsements from the groups above can also be labeled as extremist if their websites, social media accounts, media interviews, proposed or introduced policies, and/or public comments indicate some or all of the following:

  • Support for book bans and/or curriculum bans
  • Opposition to equity and inclusion efforts, diversity statements, or similar
  • Homophobic, xenophobic, racist, or other comments or policy stances indicating prejudice against a group of students
  • Opposition to wraparound services, mental health services, and/or whole child education programs with proven success records
  • Broad villainization of public schools and/or public school teachers
  • Broad villainization of higher education, colleges/universities, and/or educators in higher ed
  • Misuse of highly politicized terms such as "parents' rights," “woke,” "indoctrination," “infiltration,” etc. in a clear attempt to spread fear or disinformation
  • Amplification of disinformation about educators, science, vaccines, and/or public school curriculum
  • Hate speech, bullying, doxing, and/or targeted personal attacks against fellow community members
  • Broad villainization of concepts such as SEL, DEI, and CRT
  • Unfounded claims of “sexualized” or “pornographic” content in schools and libraries
  • Broad villainization of mental health care and/or mental health professionals
  • Focus on the “women’s sports” narrative
  • Clear disregard for Ohio law and/or the Ohio Constitution
  • Clear disregard for federal law and/or the US Constitution

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