They Came for the Schools

One Town's Fight over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms

By: Mike Hixenbaugh

Narrated by: Mike Hixenbaugh

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The urgent, revelatory story of how a school board win for the conservative right in one Texas suburb inspired a Christian nationalist campaign now threatening to undermine public education in America—from an NBC investigative reporter and co-creator of the Peabody Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize finalist Southlake podcast.

Award-winning journalist Mike Hixenbaugh delivers the immersive and eye-opening story of Southlake, Texas, a district that seemed to offer everything parents would want for their children—small classes, dedicated teachers, financial resources, a track record of academic success, and school spirit in abundance. All this, until a series of racist incidents became public, a plan to promote inclusiveness was proposed in response—and a coordinated, well-funded conservative backlash erupted, lighting the fire of a national movement on the verge of changing the face of public schools across the country.

They Came for the Schools pulls back the curtain on the powerful forces driving this crusade to ban books, rewrite curricula, limit rights for minority and LGBTQ students—and, most importantly, to win what Hixenbaugh’s deeply informed reporting convinces is the holy grail among those seeking to impose biblical values on American society: school privatization, one school board and one legal battle at a time.

They Came for the Schools delivers an essential take on Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, as they demean public schools and teachers and boost the Christian right’s vision. Hixenbaugh brings to light fascinating connections between this political and cultural moment and past fundamentalist campaigns to censor classroom lessons. Finally, They Came for the Schools traces the rise of a new resistance movement led by a diverse coalition of student activists, fed-up educators, and parents who are beginning to win select battles of their own: a blueprint, they hope, for gaining inclusive and civil schools for all.

©2024 Michael Hixenbaugh (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Loved it

A concisely told bird’s eye view of the recent right-wing attacks on public schools.

Informative,..scary as hell…a wake up call for ALL Americans

When my son first told me he was and his young wife and my grandson were moving to Texas to pursue teaching jobs for better pay I was afraid…and that was twenty years ago! Each year they are down there I get a little more scared. My son is a math teacher & coach and his wife is a librarian. I worry about them daily and look anxiously forward until they are able to leave there forever. I don’t know understand how a man so morally bankrupt has become the guiding star for so many folks on the right. They are not able able to see and acknowledge their own hypocrisy. I want to ask these folks

Love your podcasts and now your book!

As a Texas native, former student of the largest district in the state, daughter of a public school teacher, and teacher myself, I have witnessed first hand what he talks about in this book. I am one of those fighting for the SEPARATION of church and state. Mike, you did good!