Protesters gather as conservative group Moms for Liberty hosts summit in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The fight over education is coming to Philadelphia's doorstep.
The conservative group Moms for Liberty will host its annual summit at the downtown Marriott this weekend. And many protesters – who call the group's agenda extremist -- are making their presence felt.
"The result of some of their efforts have kept out the voices of the broad swath of Americans," Heather Harding, the executive director of Campaign For Our Shared Future, said.
The Campaign For our Shared Future set up next to the Marriott Thursday afternoon – handing out what they say are free age-appropriate books that Moms for Liberty is looking to remove from schools.
"The books often feature characters of color and characters that represent LGBTQ youth and families, and we think all families need to be included in the curriculum," Harding said.
Moms for Liberty has drawn controversy from some for fighting against schools teaching on diversity, sex and LGBTQ+ topics. But they've also become a key cog in conservative politics – and will host top presidential contenders Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley on Friday.
Group leaders say their mission is to stop what they call "woke ideology" from getting into classrooms.
"We are actively taking part in our political process the way it was set up to do," Tina Desovich, the co-founder of Moms of Liberty, said.
The group calls itself a "parents rights" organization and say its aim is to put parents in charge of their child's education.
"It's our mission to make sure parents will always have the right to direct the upbringing of their children," Desovich said.
But protesters we talked with believe this group isn't helping education in Pennsylvania.
"Kids don't want it, they've made that clear. Teachers don't want it, and we don't want it. We're not going to stand for it," Amanda Pauley said.
"Bottom line, this is just wrong. It's wrong and people need to be aware about it," Jane Cramer said.
The Moms for Liberty conference is set to start at the downtown Marriott Friday morning.
DeSantis will take the stage in the morning, followed by Haley – then former President Trump at 4 p.m.
Protesters said they plan to be out all weekend as well.
