"Thank You, Next."

Ellen Weaver is the last person we need running public schools in South Carolina.

6/30/2022: I stand by most of what I said in this piece, but the conceit that Weaver is “nice” has not aged well as her rhetoric has become more extreme. I wrote more about that in the pieces immediately below this. Weaver has since gone beyond her persona as “nice church lady who likes school choice” to flirt with Christian nationalist talking points about “woke indoctrination” and dog whistle anti-transgender language. She has sat for interviews with people who marched with Proud Boys and threatened and doxxed teachers, and nodded along to statements against diversity/ equity/ inclusion. She has embraced a decidedly not nice persona.

This piece was also updated (6/5/2022) to reflect coverage of Ms. Weaver’s ongoing attempts to get a master’s degree, as well as the sources of her campaign contributions. I have ended up writing more than I ever intended about Ms. Weaver, including here and here (6/30: and here).

Say I've loved and I've lost

But that's not what I see

So, look what I got

Lo…