Patrons in Blue Valley got plenty of negative experience with Jim McMullen. He was stripped of his vice presidency of their school board and lost his bid for re-election, but now he’s running for State Board of Education. We’ve seen similar commentary from patrons in Lansing about Amy Cawvey. Both of them, along with Alana McWilliams are being propped up by the NY-based 1776 Project PAC. We believe Amy Diediker, Jennifer Lloyd and Ann Zimmerman would be much better members of the State Board of Education. Read on for more information from Stand Up Blue Valley.

From Stand Up Blue Valley

“When Jim McMullen ran for the Blue Valley School Board in 2021, here’s what the millionaire founder of an anti-public education, pro-voucher PAC tweeted about the PAC’s aim to control our schools: “𝗙–𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁.” We sanitized Ryan Girdusky’s exact quote because it used the full expletive. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙.

The 1776 Project PAC already invested thousands of dollars sending two mailers for McMullen in the 2026 primary election. McMullen was elected to the BV School Board in 2021 by only 51 votes. For 4 years he voted against the interests of our students and their schools over and over and over. (Link in comments to Blog posts about McMullen’s actions as a BV BOE member.) BV voters then kicked McMullen OFF the Board by a wide margin in 2025 – but now he’s running for the STATE Board of Education with a slate of two other candidates also backed by Ryan Girdusky’s 1776 Project PAC. 𝗜𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗰𝗠𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟳𝟳𝟲 𝗣𝗔𝗖 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱): 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝘄𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗕𝗢𝗘 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝟭 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗠𝗰𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗕𝗢𝗘 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝟳. (The 1776-backed candidates for State BOE Districts 5 and 9 were rejected by voters in the Aug. 4 primary election.)

The 1776 Project PAC doesn’t know anything about Blue Valley OR Kansas schools. DON’T let them put their candidates on our State School Board. The 1776 Project PAC says it wants to remake education in America. Kansas voters need to say NO WAY. These people are NOT educators. They’re investment-banker millionaires and billionaires who live in New York. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲.

The 1776 Project PAC website says *nothing* about funding schools, supporting educators, meeting the needs of Special Education students, or supporting student mental health. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 “𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲,” 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀. The 1776 PAC is still fighting culture wars and trying to stir up racial tensions. Their propaganda uses the old “public schools are failing” lie. In Kansas, our public schools are NOT failing, despite efforts of the MAGA supermajority in the KS Legislature to further undermine schools every year.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 “𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴,” 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀:

One: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀. Blue Valley and Kansas public schools are objectively NOT failing, and anyone saying that is lying, or has been misinformed by liars.

Two: This is used as 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀. Kansas voters do NOT want their tax money going away from public schools to private and FOR-PROFIT schools.

Three: Politicians who use this line are the very ones who REFUSE to adequately fund and support public schools – 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴.

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝟯 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗿. She supports strong academic standards that ensure students build critical thinking, problem-solving, and real-world skills that prepare them for college, careers, and life. Her kids attended Olathe public schools and she taught in public school for years. She isn’t backed by out-of-state interests or anti-public education groups – she’s running because she LOVES public schools and the kids they serve.

𝗦𝗕𝗢𝗘 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝟯 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝟭𝟳𝟳𝟲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗔𝗖-𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗰𝗠𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 – 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮.”

Originally posted on September 23, 2026