School board candidates in Oconto Falls, elsewhere caught off-guard by anti-CRT PAC endorsement
The 1776 Project PAC, a national political action committee, is endorsing local school board candidates in races in Oconto County, throughout Brown County and across Wisconsin — many of whom say the mailers were sent without their knowledge.
The group has endorsed Carrie Hill, who is running for Oconto Falls School Board, and five school board candidates in De Pere, West De Pere and Pulaski, sending out mailers that call for no reading materials about gender identity and increased transparency. Most of the candidates said they were not aware the mailers were being sent.
The 1776 Project PAC endorsed Justin Czachor and Jason Dorn who are running in West De Pere; Melissa Niffenegger who is running in De Pere; and Dennis Kaminski and Corey Juelich who are running in Pulaski.
In total, the PAC has endorsed about 50 candidates in school board races across Wisconsin.
It's "dedicated to electing school board members nationwide who want to reform our public education system by promoting patriotism and pride in American history," according to the group's website.
The New York-based PAC, founded in 2020, endorses school board candidates across the country who "vow to overturn" teaching about The 1619 Project or critical race theory in school districts.
The 1619 Project is a series of essays by The New York Times Magazine that "aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative," according to the project's website.
The Pulitzer Center has developed a curriculum based on the project to talk about slavery in classrooms.
Critical race theory is a an academic and legal framework that says race is a social construct and racism is embedded in the legal and policy structures of America. It is a topic that traditionally is taught in college classes and law school.
When PACs campaign for a candidate, they only have to report campaigning costs as a contribution if they coordinated with the candidate. If there is no coordination, the PAC can campaign for many candidates and races without having to report contributions to each individual candidate's campaign.
The 1776 Project PAC is largely funded by another political action committee: the Restoration PAC.
The Restoration PAC gets the bulk of its funding from billionaire Richard Uihlein, the owner of the Wisconsin-based Uline shipping and packaging, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
National PAC sends mailer on candidates' behalf without their knowledge
The group sent out a mailer campaigning for area school board candidates, which Hill said is generating bad publicity.
"I do NOT have any goals pertaining to magnet schools or gender quotas," Hill wrote in an email. "It is just not my message from my campaign. No group should speak on my behalf. This is a bipartisan election and this flyer from this group gives it a partisan feel and that is very unnerving to me. My views are my views, they have nothing to do with political stance."
Juelich, a Pulaski candidate, said he never approved and was surprised to find in his mailbox.
The mailer calls for not having gender identity reading materials and ending "secret voting for board members," among other calls for transparency and parental involvement.
The same mailer was also sent in the suburban Milwaukee districts of Mequon-Thiensville, Kettle Moraine and Waukesha; a similar one was sent in Eau Claire.
Juelich wrote in a Facebook post that the items on the mailer are not issues facing the Pulaski School District.
"This isn't something I stand for, and it's terrible that an outside organization is speaking on my behalf without permission," he wrote on March 25.
More: Here's who’s behind the school board postcards, Facebook ads and door knockers
Juelich told the Press-Gazette in an email that he had never heard of the 1776 Project PAC, and he never gave it permission to use his name.
"As a grassroots campaign I vowed not to take funds from political parties (or) special interest groups and to remain positive," he said. "Most of the issues on the post card aren't happening in our district. We need to keep politics out of our education system."
Kaminski said he did not receive the mailer and has only seen social media postings about it.
How to register to vote and what's on the ballot
The general election is April 4. Oconto County residents will vote on local government positions, school board members, the next Wisconsin Supreme Court justice and multiple referendums.
To find your polling place, see what's on the ballot and register to vote, visit myvote.wi.gov/en-us.
You can register to vote on the day of the election at your polling place with a valid ID and proof of residence document.
Kevin Dittman contributed to this report.
Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Oconto Falls school board candidate gets partisan endorsements
