Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Mariner Books, and Mike Hixenbaugh for the advanced reader copy of the book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

I was never so happy to finish a book. Don’t get me wrong, this is a GREAT book. The problem is that the subject matter and the events detailed here angered me a great deal, to the point that the two nights when I was reading it, I didn’t get much sleep. They Came for the Schools produced a visceral reaction in me.

For the most part, They Came for the Schools is the story of the school district of Southlake, Texas. I wasn’t surprised to learn that my daughter, who is an educator, knew of the school district when I told her I was reading it. At this point, it is notorious for triggering events that are driving more and more teachers from the profession every year.

Southlake is a school district that is a suburb of Dallas. For many years, it was one of the top school districts in the country, drawing people to it from far away. This included players from Dallas sports teams, of many different races, who settled here to raise their family. To say that Southlake is an affluent district is putting it mildly. In 2018, a video surfaced of some of the (white) students chanting the n-word. Although horrid, it seemed to be the catalyst for change as a committee was formed to figure out how to educate students to treat each other better, regardless of race, sex, or sexual orientation.

During COVID, however, there started to be pushback against these changes. It culminated in many of the things we see now in our headlines about the state of education in this country, with Governor Greg Abbott and other right-wing religious conservatives using Southlake as ground zero for pushing the “woke agenda” out of schools. This included banning books, arresting school board members they disagree with, virtually ending the concept of a “classroom library” and harassing teachers to the point that they quit.

Mike Hixenbaugh covered the story of Southlake for many years as a journalist for NBC. In this book, he documents the transformation from wanting to help minority students who were being bullied over their race or sexual orientation to being more concerned about making straight white students “feel bad.” That’s the whole argument the parents have really: diversity and inclusion education might make their kids feel bad, so it shouldn’t be done. Never mind what these straight white students are doing to others.

Hixenbaugh details how the parents of these students formed a PAC and financed it, then pushed out board members who were behind the diversity and inclusion program. This became a model across the nation and was used by other districts in Texas where parents formed PACs that were financed by right-wing religious conservatives to take over school boards and try to force their agenda on all the students. Parents’ rights seem only to extend to Christian conservatives in their view. Hixenbaugh details how all of this was coopted across the country, particularly in Florida where Ron DeSantis used it as a basis of his presidential run.

The book is well-written and documented. People who live in the district and saw these events play out say it is spot-on. It’s scary. Teachers who cared about their students and tried to foster an atmosphere of inclusion and acceptance were marginalized and harassed. Students who told stories of the bullying they received were dismissed. This is nothing new. The bullies usually know they can get away with it and the administration protected them at the cost of the psychological well-being of the students they were targeting.

They Came for the Schools is a good read, but if you are like me, it will anger you. I’m glad I no longer have children in school. Many of the “code words” the school board and others use to target these inclusion programs I hear parroted up here in New Hampshire. I fear for the education my grandchildren will be receiving. There is hope, as Hixenbaugh details, that some of the pushback districts have received in terms of parents forming PACs to counter those who want to end diversity and inclusion and put religious content back in schools. I don’t know if I were a young person right now if I’d want to start a family if people like those in Southlake get their way. Public education was once something this country excelled at, and now it’s being torn apart.