You Must Read This Story by NBC's Mike Hixenbaugh

Jun 15, 2023

Mike Hixenbaugh is one half of the team (along with Antonia Hylton) that brought us the great Southlake podcast, about the intersection of race, education, and money in that Dallas burb. He just dropped another banger today titled “How a Far-right, Christian Cellphone Company ‘Took Over’ Four Texas School Boards.” This is a must-read. A taste:

“‘The school boards are the key that picks the lock,’ [former Trump advisor Steve] Bannon said during an interview with Patriot Mobile’s president, Glenn Story, from the floor of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Dallas on August 6. ‘Tell us about what you did.’

“Story turned to the camera and said, ‘We went out and found 11 candidates last cycle and we supported them, and we won every seat. We took over four school boards.’

“‘Eleven seats on school boards, took over four!’ Bannon shouted as a crowd of CPAC attendees erupted in applause.

“It was a moment of celebration for an upstart company whose leaders say they are on a mission from God to restore conservative Christian values at all levels of government—especially in public schools.”

I hasten to add that Hixenbaugh and NBC are doing this great reporting and storytelling without the aid of an education lab. Bookmark it. Read it. Think about the fact that Patriot Mobile funded a PAC with $600,000 to win those 11 school board seats.