“Stand for Children” sounds oh so very nice. And yet it is something Louisiana legislators need to be very, very leery of.

The Louisiana Legislature’s regular session is well under way, and education has been on everyone’s minds. From Rep Emerson’s Educations Savings Accounts bill (HB 745) to Rep Edmonston’s bill requiring schools to communicate immunization exemptions (HB 47), the Legislature has seen a flurry of education legislation. Now-Governor Landry ran on educational freedom as one of his main policy priorities, so it only makes sense that education is one of the top items on the Legislature’s agenda.

Now, most Conservative/Republican legislators seem to understand that teachers’ unions are the proverbial “boogeyman” in education. It’s easy to see the teachers’ unions as a political opponent since they have become heavily tied to the Democrat Party and Far-left educational causes.

That being said, there is actually a large Trojan horse in Louisiana education that many legislators are not aware.

The horse: Stand for Children.

Well then, what exactly is Stand for Children (SFC)? Stand for Children is, yes, a Far-left partisan educational advocacy group. Here is SFC’s mission statement on its website:

“Stand for Children is a unique catalyst for educational equity and racial justice, to create a brighter future for us all.”

Now, let’s look at some of the leading members of Stand for Children–

-Jonah Edelman, Executive Officer:

In April 2022, Stand for Children executive officer Jonah Edelman penned this hit piece in Time against proponents of educational freedom and anyone who dares question the explicit content found in some American public schools. Here is the beginning of the article that he wrote:

“Just as extremists have used the Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election to undermine American democracy, far-right advocates of privatizing public education are using Big Lies to undermine public schools. Supporters of public schools must see these ugly attacks for what they are and take a stand against them.”

Edelman has also shown how both he and his organization Stand for Children supports toxic ideologies like Critical Race Theory and more:

-Governmental affairs director Brigitte Nieland & SFC Louisiana executive director Carrie Griffin Monica:

 

Stand for Children employees Brigette Nieland and Carrie Monica Griffin have made extensive connections in Louisiana politics and education–as evidenced by their attendance at the 2023 LA Legislative Black Caucus jazz brunch and their involvement in Louisiana’s school boards. Politicians from both sides of the aisle have seemed to cozy up to Stand for Children despite the group’s Far-left bent.

Fortunately, a few people in Louisiana politics have sounded the alarm bells about Stand for Children. To their credit, the Louisiana GOP previously called out Stand for Children in 2022 for promoting anti-white, critical race theory curricula in schools.

Additionally, LA Rep. Chuck Owen returned SFC’s campaign contributions in September 2023. It’s an unusual occurrence for a politician to return campaign contributions, so it would be interesting to know if Rep. Owens came to a similar conclusion regarding SFC’s dark ideology.

Because of this, I think it’s high time to remind Republican legislators about how disturbing Stand for Children truly is. Stand for Children Louisiana has meddled plenty in Louisiana education in recent years–including in the previous election cycle. For the past decade, Stand for Children Louisiana PAC has donated a fair amount of money to Republican candidates for the state legislature and BESE. According to campaign disclosure filings, here are some of the candidates that the SFC PAC supported in the 2023 election cycle.

Besides its involvement in elections, Stand for Children is also involved with the Louisiana Legislature. Tomorrow, the LA House Education Committee will hear Rep. Brass’s resolution HCR 8, which seeks to create an educational task force that will evaluate the current use of standardized testing as a requirement for high school graduation in Louisiana.

Guess who is set to become a member of this task for under this bill? You probably guessed it: Stand for Children Louisiana.

There was a lot of information to unpack in today’s article, and there is even more that we haven’t discussed. So, I might do a follow-up article to continue shedding light on Stand for Children Louisiana.

My hope is that Louisiana Republican legislators will finally wake up to the truth about Stand for Children and know what this dangerous “Trojan horse” truly represents for Louisiana education.