A Pivotal Moment

Confronting the Threat of Project 2025 to Local School Board Governance

As the CEO of School Board Partners, I've spent years witnessing the transformative potential of school boards when they are empowered to make decisions that reflect the needs, aspirations, and lived experiences of the communities they serve. Our work is grounded in the belief that effective, representative, and equitable governance is critical to achieving excellence and opportunity for every student. But in the face of sweeping agendas like Project 2025, it’s time to pause, reflect, and question—not only because these proposals pose an existential threat to our work but because they undermine the very principles that drive meaningful, sustainable change.

Imagine a world where the rich tapestry of local voices is muffled, replaced by a singular, top-down directive. That's the reality Project 2025 threatens to create. School boards were designed to be responsive to their communities. When we centralize control and strip boards of their authority, we don’t just dismantle governance—we erode trust, silencing the input of parents, educators, and students who live with the day-to-day reality of our educational system. It’s an attempt to simplify a complex ecosystem, but that simplification comes at a great cost: the loss of local agency and the stifling of innovative solutions.

Education is not—and never should be—monolithic. When Project 2025 calls for sweeping bans on teaching certain concepts, like critical race theory or gender studies, it does more than police the content of our curricula. It undermines our commitment to preparing students for a diverse and interconnected world. In today’s society, we need to equip students to think critically, engage with different perspectives, and understand the nuances of our shared history. Simplifying complex issues into binary debates of “allowed” and “forbidden” does nothing to prepare them for this future. We need school boards to continue being spaces where nuanced conversations can lead to better, more thoughtful educational policies.?

Equally concerning is the use of federal funding as a weapon. Withholding resources from school boards that do not comply with a rigid political agenda is a strategy that fails to consider the realities of underfunded schools, which are often already struggling to provide adequate services to students. Instead of being able to invest in evidence-based solutions to address achievement gaps, boards would find themselves cornered and forced to prioritize political conformity over student needs. The true victims here are our students, who deserve better.

Finally, targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as part of an ideological crusade is not just short-sighted—it’s fundamentally out of touch with what students and families need to thrive. DEI work isn’t about indoctrination; it’s about ensuring every student feels safe, supported, and seen. Eliminating these initiatives will only exacerbate the disparities we’ve committed to addressing, moving us further away from a vision of public education that works for all.

Our work at School Board Partners isn’t about rigid ideology. It’s about cultivating thoughtful, flexible leaders who are ready to tackle the complex challenges facing our schools with courage, data, and empathy. Project 2025 is an invitation to close our minds. We need to do the opposite: embrace curiosity, engage in constructive debate, and prioritize policies that elevate rather than undermine local governance.

As leaders, let’s remember that progress isn’t made by simplifying complex problems. It’s made by empowering those closest to the issues—our school boards—to think again and build better systems for all students.

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Ethan Ashley is the Co-Founder and CEO of School Board Partners and a former president and current member of the Orleans Parish School Board. Ethan is also an attorney with a law degree from Howard University, a fervent advocate for racial equity, youth justice, and civil rights, and a father and husband. He has held pivotal roles at esteemed institutions such as the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the Urban League of Louisiana, the ADL, and the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.