WASHINGTON –Today, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) sent a letter to the president of the Mentor Board of Education following the Board’s refusal to comply with President Trump’s “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” Executive Order. The letter comes as Board Member Lauren Marchaza appeared to claim that that the federal government is prohibited from getting involved in state and local decisions about K-12 curriculum.”
“President Trump is delivering on his promise to end the radical left’s blatant attempt to bestow woke ideology and a hatred for our country on students across the United States,” said Moreno. “The Mentor Board of Education, and all school boards across the country, must adhere to President Trump’s Executive Orders and remove all woke, radical, and indoctrinating curriculum immediately.
Read the full letter here or below:
February 26, 2025
The Honorable Maggie A. Cook
President
Mentor Board of Education
6451 Center St.
Mentor, OH 44060
Dear President Cook,
Thank you for your service on the Mentor Board of Education (“Board”). As both a parent and the President of the Board, I am certain you can understand the importance of disseminating accurate information about laws and regulations pertaining to public education to the American taxpayers.
I write to express my strong concern regarding the statements that one of your fellow Board Members, Lauren Marchaza, recently made at the February 11, 2025 Board Meeting. Her misleading statements could be interpreted, at best, as attempting to engage in the unauthorized practice of law, and, at worst, as the pronouncement that the Board will refuse to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders.
Specifically, Board Member Marchaza, noted in reference to President Trump’s Executive Order titled, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” that “the phrase ‘consistent with applicable law,’ I think that kind of gives everybody a little bit of flexibility in terms of like what is legal and what is not…” Board Member Marchaza went on to state that “there are multiple provisions in federal law that prohibit the federal government from getting involved in state and local decisions about K-12 curriculum, so no executive order can actually overrule [um] that federal law or regulation so I think that is important for us to remember.”
To the best of my knowledge, Board Member Marchaza is not a lawyer. And yet, she has seemingly made the sole determination that the Board can undermine the President of United States’ constitutional authority to protect parental rights in education, and outlaw unconstitutional, far-left racial discrimination in public schools. I don’t know how else to interpret this Board Member’s statements other than as an indication that the Board plans to flagrantly disregard President Trump’s Executive Orders.
I am hoping you can help me understand the official position of the Board. Please respond to my office no later than five days of receipt this letter with the answers to the following questions:
- Does the Board and Mentor Public Schools plan to enforce President Trump’s Executive Orders including but not limited to, the Executive Order “Ending Racial Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”?
- Does the Board and Mentor Public Schools plan to fully comply with the laws cited in President Trump’s Executive Order?
- Why did a non-attorney Board Member provide legal analysis of and commentary on the President’s Executive Orders to the Board, as opposed to the Board’s counsel?
- Are you aware that Lake County receives over $1 billion in state and federal funding?
Sincerely,
BERNIE MORENO
United States Senator