Political commentator Tara Setmayer calls herself a “proud, proud, product of New Jersey Public Schools” and criticizes efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, calling such actions to be a direct threat to the future of students, teachers, and the nation’s economic and democratic stability.

“If history teaches us anything, it is when education is under attack, democracy itself is at stake,” Setmayer said during an insightful address to urban educators assembled in Washington, D.C., for the Council of the Great City Schools’ Legislative Conference. 

The founder and CEO of The Seneca Project—a political organization focusing on issues impacting women and democracy—believes the country is facing a crisis of leadership on multiple fronts: political extremism, misinformation, attacks on public education, and a cultural shift that bends the very foundations of truth, equity, and opportunity. 

Setmayer, a UVA Center for Politics Resident Scholar, reminded attendees that throughout history, leaders have emerged during pivotal moments, refusing to be silenced or surrender their rights. Leaders such as 16-year-old Barbara Johns, who in 1951, organized a student walkout to protest the inequality between black and white schools in Farmville, Va. Her actions drew national attention to the issue of school segregation. 

Setmayer also pointed to the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., who rallied for gun laws and improved school safety after 17 people were killed at their high school.

“Those were high school kids that took a stand when leaders in their own community would not,” said Setmayer. “It proves that all it takes is for one courageous act to lead to national change.”

Instead of literacy tests, poll taxes, fire hoses, and attack dogs, the political commentator noted that today’s threats to democracy take the form of book bans and curriculum restrictions designed to censor history and silence marginalized voices.

“These efforts are not about parental rights or local control,” said Setmayer, “but about controlling the narrative about who gets to learn what and about shaping the next generation's understanding of truth.”

According to Setmayer, the country now exists in an era where disinformation spreads faster than the truth, where school board meetings have become battlegrounds for cultural wars, and where educators are unjustly vilified for simply doing their jobs. 

Certain media outlets, she added, amplify fearmongering narratives about indoctrination in schools, creating a toxic environment that stifles educators and confuses parents. 

A former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill, Setmayer believes there has been a deliberate effort to weaken public trust in education and to further an agenda that benefits those in power.

In light of ongoing attacks on public education, she encouraged educators to remain resilient, to advocate fiercely for their students, and to refuse to let misinformation dictate what happens in their classrooms. 

“You're not just administrators, you are defenders of democracy,” Setmayer told the conferees. “You're not just educators; you are leaders in the true sense of the word. And leadership in crisis is not just about surviving, it's about rising. This is an opportunity to show courage.”