Braving the Politics of Education on a Florida School Board

Nick and Kelly Lichter’s involvement in local politics began with their commitment to the best possible education for the children of Collier County, Florida.

Their interest in the educational system began as their own children came of preschool age. During this time, the Lichters discovered liberal arts curriculums and were amazed at the breadth of education the model provided. Eventually they decided to work toward starting their own school. Their goals were rewarded when Mason Classical Academy received a charter.

Nick and Kelly believe that the current curriculum in the public schools is a problem because it distracts from essential material that children should really be learning and hurts parents who cannot afford anything better. The Lichters want to bring back deep learning to curriculum, including memorization and multiplication tables.

“It’s a hot button issue. There’s lots of anti-Americanism and historical inaccuracy in the current curriculum which we want to confront,” said Nick who co-founded the charter school with Kelly and later aided her campaign.

When Kelly decided to run for Collier County School Board in 2014, the Lichters attended an American Majority New Leaders Summit in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in summer 2013 to learn effective campaigning.

“We attended training in Fort Lauderdale and then had them come to our hometown,” Nick said. “We don’t know where we would be without those two events. We learned so much about how to come up with a message, get organized, and get people involved. It’s invaluable to get support.”

In preparation for the 2014 school board election, the Lichters proceeded to hire a campaign manager and designed a campaign website. The Lichters regard their time training with American Majority as a helpful how-to.

“It [the training] helped make sure we were actively engaged with social media, taught us how to write letters, how to get the word out, start a blog, and how to develop a network,” said Nick.

Election day was bright for the Lichters. Kelly and a friend who ran beside her acquired two of the three seats on the school board. She won the school board election consisting of three candidates in the primary by 51 percent. Nick remembers the media surrounding them after Kelly won. He was astonished by the number of people who stopped to talk to him, shook his hand, and said they voted for Kelly.

“[Understanding] the benefits of early voting was a big learning point for us,” said Nick. “A lot of people who don’t have children don’t participate in the school board election. But early voting targeting was effective in winning their vote.”

Once in office, Kelly and her friends faced challenges when other members of the school board tried to prevent the changes Kelly and her friends wanted to affect.

“They made it difficult for us,” said Nick. “People objected to Kelly merely because of her involvement with a charter school.”

Despite opposition, Kelly’s objective has been to bring quality education to the entire county.

“We’re doing everything for the children,” said Nick, “but there’s always some kind of corruption in the district to be battled. For example, there is sexually explicit material on the shelves of school and they shoot down speakers who point out corruption. Most of what we do is focused on identifying opponents and figuring out solutions.”

The Lichters are excited about 2016 because there are two seats available. At the time we spoke with Nick, he had people training to run for office at his house. They are focusing on effectively communicating with people in their county.