Our Story
As told by the media
A new wave of book bans sweeps the United States
There is a new wave of book bannings across the United States. Parent groups and local politicians have succeeded in having a number of books removed from school curriculums and libraries. We hear from Angela Wynn, a mother in Sarasota, Florida, who is fighting against book bans.
As community veers right, political division tears apart Sarasota, Fla.
SARASOTA, Fla. - This sleepy county on Florida’s west coast was once known mostly as a haven for retirees who want to enjoy sunshine and the arts.
But at a school board meeting last month, it took only a few minutes for raw bitterness to erupt.
DeSantis says he’s giving parents more control with bill’s signing. Some say it will hurt children.
Paulina Testerman is one of the founders of the Sarasota nonprofit Support Our Schools, which supports equitable public education. While the organization supports parents’ rights, she said the bill rewards bad parenting.
"If you want to be involved in your children's education and their lives, you need to foster that relationship at home,” she said. “And you won't have to rely on bills like this one."
“Support Our Schools: The Fight For True Public Schools!” - over Coffee & Pan Dulce Show.
Support Our Schools speaks with hosts Christian Cano and Jenny Gunn of the Coffee & Pan Dulce Show, about the threats facing Public Education.
MSNBC - With book bans on the rise, moms who oppose them are pushing back.
Carol Lerner, a life-long educator, director of Support Our Schools, and founder of a sister organization called Protect Our Public Schools: “Sarasota has been, for about a year and a half, one of the epicenters in the country of chaos and confusion at school board meetings.”
“It started… with parents and people from the community coming to the school board meetings claiming that the Sarasota school district was indoctrinating their students in Marxism and Black Lives Matter and then later on, when critical race theory became kind of the buzzword, it switched over to that,” Lerner said. Support Our Schools amplified its own position by forming a coalition with 18 organizations in the area including civil rights, LGBTQ, social justice and religious groups.
Support Our Schools is part of a growing trend
Groups like Support Our Schools are popping up across the nation to fight back against the dangerous political message being sent by groups like Moms for Liberty, Moms for America, and the Proud Boys. ABC Action News, out of Tampa Bay, did a special investigation to report on groups like ours that aren’t caving to the demands of the few, just because they’re louder. Watch the report below.
Washington Post - ‘Blue’ suburban moms are mobilizing to counter conservatives in fights over masks, book bans and diversity education
SOS Cofounder, Jules Scholles: “They’re ruining our schools, and they’re not stopping,” the 41-year-old said. “You’ve got no masks, you’ve got no vaccines, you’ve got no CRT, you’re about to get no teaching anything that makes White children feel bad, why are you still so effing angry? Like why are you still coming to these meetings so juiced up and angry?” said Scholles, who is White.
Washington Post - In his fight against ‘woke’ schools, DeSantis tears at the seams of a diverse Florida
Lisa Schurr, an attorney who lives in Sarasota, and three other women recently founded Support Our Schools, a statewide group that advocates for what they describe as diverse, fact-based school curriculums and textbooks.
“We are all appalled about what is happening in Florida,” said Schurr, 62. “They don’t want our kids to be critical thinkers. … And to say [a student] can’t feel discomfort. What about the child of color? What about the gay child? You don’t think this legislation is making them feel discomfort? You don’t think they have felt discomfort for all of their lives?”
EDITORIAL: Pledging support for our schools
OUR POSITION: We think it’s a great idea for a number of area groups to get together and work to support their schools and teachers and tone down the rhetoric at school board meetings. Support Public Schools.
More than a dozen Suncoast organizations unite for a ‘Support Our Schools’ coalition
A new coalition called Support Our Schools launched on Tuesday morning. The idea for this group all started at the heels of an uproar at school board meetings in Manatee and Sarasota counties. “There are people in our community who support our voices in spite of the fact that we’re not the ones shouting,” said member Paulina Testerman. They say their aim is to combat hate and prejudice.
Group forms, unhappy with conservative school efforts
The mission is to protect public schools: Students, teachers and parents. A group of residents concerned about the behavior at recent school board meetings have formed a coalition called “Take the pledge to stand up for Sarasota and Manatee County public schools.”
Sarasota and Manatee County nonprofits call for calm at school board meetings
Sarasota and Manatee County nonprofits call for calm at school board meetings. The 16 nonprofit organizations want the community to take the pledge to stand up for public schools and support local school boards. Coverage from WTSP - 10 Tampa Bay.
Sarasota and Manatee County nonprofits organize coalition to pledge support for public education
A new coalition formed by 16 nonprofit organizations has come together to combat hostility at local school board meetings.
Hate has no place in Sarasota and certainly doesn’t deserve a seat at the educational table
The founders of SOS were featured as guest columnists in the 12/28/2021 issue of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune asking for a public apology from current Sarasota School Board member Karen Rose for her collaboration with the Proud Boys at a recent town hall.
Opposing Moms for Liberty
Two of the SOS founders, Lisa & Jules, sat down with Leyla Santiago from CNN to discuss why groups like Moms for Liberty are dangerous