The parental rights group Moms for Liberty is gaining ground ahead of the November election, when slates of school board members will also be on the ballot.

The National organization, which was founded just three years ago, has quickly become a central figure in ongoing battles over how sexuality, gender and racism are taught in schools.

Well, now organizers say membership in New Jersey is booming and new chapters are forming across the state.

So what's driving the interest?

Our education and child welfare writer Hannah Gross is with me now in the studio to explain.

Hannah, good to see you.

Membership is doubling in some cases.

Why is that?

Yes, In the Bergen County chapter, membership doubled to what seems like more than 1000 members now, according to the chapter chair.

And a lot of this increase has been tied to recent Biden administration changes to Title IX which expands protections for transgender students.

And so why is Moms for Liberty getting involved there and what exactly are they doing?

Yes.

So in one lawsuit out of Kansas, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the federal Department of Education.

Cannot enforce the changes in the groups belonging to the plaintiffs.

So that's four states.

And those are schools attended by members of Moms for Liberty's Children.

So Moms for Liberty is putting out a rallying cry and saying, hey, join our group, get your child's school on this list.

And the Department of Education won't be able to enforce the changes there.

So if you're against this move, come join us.

We're part of this really crusade, this national movement that has caused a lot of polarizing action in schools.

But I mean, in New Jersey, we have a law against discrimination.

So does it change anything for districts and for individual schools here?

Students shouldn't really expect to see any changes except for maybe procedural ones about how Title IX complaints are handled.

We have pretty strong anti-discrimination and anti-harassment intimidation and bullying laws here, and states and school districts are still expected to comply with those.

But if there are schools and I'm wondering if there are in New Jersey who are eliminated from having to enforce Title IX how many of them exist, and do we expect to see more as the chapters grow?

Yeah, there are close to 40 schools on the list, and it is expected that that list will continue to grow because Moms for Liberty will keep adding to it with their members who have added to it about every two weeks in court filings.

But those districts still have to comply with state laws against discrimination.

The biggest difference is that the federal Department of Education cannot enforce the Title IX changes, but school officials still have to protect all of their LGBTQ students.

Okay, so then let's zoom out to the bigger picture.

The influence here has really been with these school board elections electing members who are of the same mind as Moms for Liberty or members of Moms for Liberty.

Do we expect the same firestorm this election cycle as we saw in the past few?

It's a little bit early to tell.

The filing deadline for school board candidates was at the end of July, and I'm just beginning to sort through those lists.

I heard you on the phone earlier requesting a few.

And what are you finding so far?

I it's I'm just getting the list of candidates.

I'm seeing that there are some contested races, some seats.

There's no one running for an open seat.

So I don't know how strong it's going to be in November just yet.

So then ostensibly, membership is growing, chapters are forming.

I would assume then there's more money behind this group and more money to get folks elected.

Have you been able to uncover anything in terms of fundraising?

Voting members do pay dues, so if the number of voting members is increasing, that presumably means the organization is going to have more money.

They're also encouraging their members to run for school board.

So there's more reporting to be done there for sure.

Yeah, and we know that you'll stay on it.

Hannah Gross for us.

Hannah, good to see you.

Thanks so much.

Thanks, Bri.