The Pennsylvania School Boards Association voted unanimously on Thursday to withdraw from its parent organization, the National School Boards Association, after the national group demanded that the Biden administration use domestic terrorism laws to target parents who want to hold districts accountable for teaching racist curriculum and ignoring the science on masking for children.
“The Pennsylvania School Boards Association was not consulted prior to the letter being sent by the National School Boards Association to President Biden. We were not asked for input nor discussion on its content,” Annette Stevenson, PSBA’s chief communications officer, said in a statement to the Delaware Valley Journal.
full statement: pic.twitter.com/XCWGIpmD2h
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) October 15, 2021
The NSBA sent a letter to President Joe Biden last month begging him and his administration to prosecute and punish parents who were fed up with the radical indoctrination of their children in schools. In a matter of days, the U.S. Justice Department’s Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI and state attorneys to address “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation’s public schools.”
While the NSBA claimed that violence and threats warranting federal investigation are plaguing school boards across the nation, the PSBA expressed full confidence in its communities to offer criticism respectfully.
“PSBA has always encouraged local school boards to welcome input and remarks from community members and all stakeholders, and Pennsylvania has a long history of relying on local school district control to ensure that the will of the community and parents is best represented,” Stevenson said.
As of Friday, at least 16 state school board associations reported that they were not consulted before the NSBA sent its letter to the Biden administration. While a handful of the state associations simply said they were unaware of NSBA’s letter until it was published, most state groups condemned the national association’s request to use domestic terrorism laws to target parents and said the protests they’ve experienced have not warranted law enforcement involvement beyond the local and state level.
Source: The Federalist
