The National School Board Association (NSBA) made headlines last month following their letter to President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting federal intervention in local school board meetings and referring to concerned parents as “domestic terrorists.”
Now, nine Republican congressmen from Texas are calling on Texas’ chapter to leave the national organization.
Unlike the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), 12 states (Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin) have already revoked their membership, participation, or dues from the NSBA.
This week, U.S. Reps. Chip Roy, Louie Gohmert, Van Taylor, Ronny Jackson, Beth Van Duyne, Randy Weber, Roger Williams, Lance Gooden, and Pete Sessions wrote their own letter to TASB, questioning the board’s continued membership in the NSBA.
In their letter, the representatives heavily criticize the NSBA’s recent actions, stating their letter and request for federal involvement “was clearly intended to intimidate parents into silence, threatening them for defending their values and children’s educational interest.”
Since the NSBA’s original letter, the organization has issued an apology and acknowledged that some of their language was unjustifiable. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was recently questioned by Congress regarding the actions his office took following the NSBA’s request for intervention where he denied taking action against parents.
However, a whistleblower recently released information “showing that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Counterterrorism Division has been compiling and categorizing threat assessments related to parents, including by directing FBI personnel to a specific ‘threat tag’ to track potential investigations,” per the representatives’ letter to TASB.
Since this information has become public, the representatives have three questions for the TASB:
- To what extent did TASB know about the September 29 NSBA letter, and when?
- Does TASB agree with NSBA’s decision to call on federal law enforcement to target parents?
- If not, did any TASB member communicate their disagreement with this decision to NSBA?
According to the representatives’ letter, “Organizations representing Texas’ education should unequivocally support parents and their involvement in the children’s education and not remain affiliated with national organizations that display otherwise.”
U.S. Rep. Van Duyne has also called out AG Garland for lying to Congress regarding the utilization of the FBI to target parents.
AG Garland told Congress when he testified under oath, parents protesting school board meetings aren’t being targeted by the FBI. He lied. The allegations show parents are being treated like terrorists. He broke the law & there need to be consequences. https://t.co/5zSXRh0JtK
— Beth Van Duyne (@Bethvanduyne) November 17, 2021
The original NSBA letter created a firestorm of angered parents, and as new information arises regarding education administrators’ true thoughts toward concerned parents, the issue continues to evolve.
Indeed, Biden’s Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said that parents are not the primary stakeholders in their children’s education.
TASB has not yet offered a response.
