A Practical Guide To Local Organizing: CFER Edition

Although there were many high caliber speakers, our focus today is on Frank Xu, President of CFER, who spoke about the culture war in education and the importance of local organizing to push back against the indoctrination.

The Culture War

Xu clarified the sides of the culture war may appear to be simply Equity vs. Equality, but there is more to it than that. That is to say the radical left is waging a multi-front war, including:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) vs. Equality and merit.
• Safe space vs. Free speech
• Emotion vs. Facts, logic, and reasoning
• Victimhood vs. Personal Empowerment
• Entitlement vs. Accountability and hard work

Xu said that we are witnessing a “cover-up of decades worth of failure at educating children by the woke educational industrial complex.” Or, put another way, the radical left. What’s more, the “players” in education “pretend that they, and only they hold the ultimate truth.” If any dare speak out against the players in the complex, the dissidents are labeled as “…white supremacists, Christian Nationalists, racists, or transphobes.”

A fact that many a reader, and this writer, have experienced first hand.Xu explained how the “shady tactics” of cancel culture have silenced many a community member, parent, and even teachers and students. Xu is not wrong on those facts either. However, the lies and character assassinations of the radical left cannot stand up against “…sound data, facts, or logical reasoning.”The woke ideologies being pushed in public schools are not only hurting students academically, but also their character development as they are indoctrinated into being woke activists.

Local Organizing For Education Reform

The roots of the woke ideology being pushed in the schools are the teachers unions. According to Xu, the teacher unions “pick their own boss” by using their money, network of volunteers, and know-how to elect bad trustees and other bad leaders in government.

Xu identified three typical “failure patterns” that some of us make when taking on the woke teachers unions: “Anonymous fighters, lone wolves 1 and lone wolves 2.“

The problem with anonymous fighters is that they lack credibility and they do not even put themselves “on the chessboard.” The first lone wolf is the parent that goes to speak to the school board on their own, but after a year or two the fight dissipates as their child graduates or transfers. The second lone wolf is actually a group of parents/community members who “work very hard” and maybe get elected as board trustees. However, this group has very little support and are little better than alone against the Goliath teachers unions. The unions will either harass this group into giving up, or perhaps better fund a challenger in the next election. It comes down to the teachers unions being better funded and better organized.

Always Look At The Bright Side of Life

Yes, in case you were wondering, this is a Monty Python reference, but never fear, I have no intention of selling any of you off for medical experimentation. What do you think I am, a Democrat? All kidding aside, there is a bright side, should you choose to accept it.

The proposal CFER pitches is to “build our own parent community organizations in every single school district to expose, counter, and challenge teachers unions.” Xu used a chessboard analogy to describe the fight against teachers unions. The Kings are the school boards. The Queens are the local organizations with resources–their side has the teachers unions, our side has precious few and need to build. The Castles are other local organizations, such as (for our side) churches, synagogues, chambers of commerce. However, while these groups may agree ideologically, they are as yet unwilling to enter the fray. The Knights and Bishops are state and national organizations and think tanks. While our side does have a number of Knight organizations, including CFER, their ideas are not widely disseminated. Finally there are the pawns, us unorganized parents and citizens vs. the masses of indoctrinated.

Queen Organizations

The key, according to Xu, is building those Queen organizations at the local level by organizing the pawns. Those Queen organizations need to built so that they “have the money, the volunteers, the know-how, and the experience of the school districts.” To do so, Xu proposed that we find those in our community that “feel the calling to protect our kids and safeguard our Country” and provide a Queen organization for them to gather under and organize more volunteers.

Once established, a Queen organization can find support from the state and national Knight organizations. Not in terms of volunteers or funding–we’re on our own there– but for expertise, knowledge, leadership and teamwork skills. The Queen organization requires volunteers that will work hard and are willing to voice their views in the public square. Earning the trust of local businesses and organizations that might fund you is a must. But that trust comes with the cost of consistently speaking up over time–street creds if you will.

When Desert Truth inquired as to what form those Queen organizations should be, Frank Xu replied:

“For the queen organizations, in my vision it will be better to be a 501(c)(3). It will help boost donations and also help to stay neutral and research/facts based to attract more local non-political community members to feel comfortable to join and volunteer there.“

There have been successes. Temecula Valley, Chino, and Murietta are all well known. But communities such as Carlsbad, Poway, and Coronado have made great progress at becoming Queen organizations.

If you would like more information on setting up a Queen organization in your community, contact CFER at info@cferfoundation.org. For more information on setting up a Queen organization in the Coachella Valley, you can also contact admin@deserttruth.com.

Watch Frank Xu’s CFER Conference speech, and/or visit their YouTube channel to watch all of the speakers.