Dave Reilly, an America First conservative running for an Idaho school board, spoke to National File about his campaign, including his opposition to anti-white critical race theory and oppressive COVID policies, teaching Idaho values, and why other believers in America First policies should get involved in local politics.
Reilly, who is running for the school board of Post Falls, a city in Idaho’s Kootenai County, just west of Couer D’Alene, said that he was first inspired to run for the position when his first daughter was born earlier this year, and began considering options for her future education. “The idea of sending her to a public school was so out of the question we would never do it, and that’s a problem,” Reilly told National File, inspiring him to get involved and fix what he saw as broken system so he would be proud to send her to a local school.
“Educating a nation’s youth is single-handedly one of the most important things that can be done for its future,” Reilly explained. “It all starts with family as the building block of society, and then educating that child. If you mess that up in those early years, the consequences are obviously disastrous,” he continued. “It’s very important that you get that right.”
In a questionnaire sent to local candidates from a local media organization, Reilly railed against the “Education Industrial Complex,” which he said was “more interested in indoctrination rather than education.” He confirmed to National File that he stood firm against the “misguided liberal experimentation,” including anti-white Critical Race Theory, SEL (Social and Emotional Learning), and Common Core. “There’s not one person who I know that actually likes this, but our schools are still teaching with these frameworks in place,” he added.
He highlighted the “equity framework” implemented by Coeur d’Alene’s School Board as one example of something that was “stealthily snuck by” parents, which he would not let pass if he was elected. With 41% of children in the overwhelmingly white district living in poverty, Reilly said it was “absurd” for the white students to be taught that they were oppressing black people.
Reilly slammed the actions of the school board of Loudoun County, Virginia, where parents were arrested for railing against CRT in June. “Regardless of what policy is being debated, when you’re treating parents like that, and you’re being condescending towards them as if you know how to raise their children better than they do, you’re going to be met with a lot of anger,” he argued. “The whole point of me getting on the board is… to be the people’s voice against these anti-white, racist and destructive policies. If you’ve got your own board member who’s anti-CRT, you’re not going to be shut down in these meetings any more.”
I am honored that my friend @michellemalkin is endorsing my bid for Post Falls School Board Trustee!
Michelle has been a fearless opponent CRT and other policies that negatively affect our children nation-wide.
As your trustee, we're going to Make Education Great Again! pic.twitter.com/DrHW0VqxQR
— Dave Reilly (@realDaveReilly) September 24, 2021
Along with taking action against the policies mentioned above, Reilly said that he would also stand firm against oppressive COVID regulations being enforced by school boards. “Forcing kids to wear masks in school is tantamount to child abuse, and I think that foisting an experimental vaccine on kids as a condition of enrollment is absolutely out of the question,” he confirmed.
His final and third policy thrust was looking how to deal with the vast population growth of the county, with a housing market described by the WSJ as the hottest in the United States, leading to issues with class sizes and other problems. He also said that residents from liberal states like California are moving to Idaho specifically because it’s not like where they moved away from. “I think it would be a betrayal to our new residents, and to the people that grew up here, to be teaching San Francisco values in our schools, when we should be teaching Idaho values,” Reilly said.
With his recent endorsement from conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, who described Reilly as a “fierce patriot,” he encouraged others who believed in America First values to run for local office themselves. “You get more control and more power by focusing on things closer to home than you’re going to get by voting in the national elections,” he noted. “It’s overlooked far too often. It’s much easier to get involved with local politics, and I think it has a much greater impact. If you want more America First people in the world, then start by educating them to love themselves and to love their country and to love their people.”
Reilly also received an endorsement from the local Kootenai County Republicans, who he told National File were the “best Republican central committee in the United States,” and was cautious but confident when asked about his chances of winning. “The people up here are very receptive,” he said, adding that they were “all on the same page.”
