In the new book "They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms" award-winning journalist Mike Hixenbaugh tells the 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 school privatization, one school board and one legal battle at a time.
Mike Hixenbaugh is a senior investigative reporter for NBC News, has been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and won a Peabody Award for his reporting on the battle over race, gender, and sexuality in American classrooms.
