Last week, PJ Media covered the hysterical and threatening letter written by National School Boards Association (NSBA) president Viola Garcia. In the letter sent to none other than President Joe Biden, Garcia accused Americaâs concerned parents of threats, intimidation, and even âhate crimesâ rising to the level of âdomestic terrorismâ for having the gall to speak up at their local school board meetings. The NSBA also requested âfederal assistance to stop threats and acts of violence against school board members, school officials, and teachers.â
This week, however, the leaders of almost two dozen parent organizations fired back with a scathing letter of their ownâand it is epic. The letter, written on behalf of members of several parent organizations, made clear that the NSBAâs claims of âhateâ and âterrorismâ were shameful:
NSBA cites a tiny number of minor incidents in order to insinuate that parents who are criticizing and protesting the decisions of school boards are engaging in, or may be engaging in, âdomestic terrorism and hate crimes.â NSBA even invokes the PATRIOT Act. The association of legitimate protest with terrorism and violence reveals both your contempt for parents and your unwillingness to understand and hear the sincere cries of parents on behalf of their children. To equate parents with terrorists dishonors the thousands of victims of actual terrorism around the world. Have you no shame?
The parent organizations pointed out that the NSBAâs call for the federal government to use its power against parents was in itself a menacing and âthinly veiled threat, intended to intimidate into silence and submission the very constituents that [the NSBA] members ostensibly represent.â I mean, what else would you call asking the president to sic the Department of Justice, the FBI, Homeland Security, the Secret Service Assessment Center, and the Postal Service on Americaâs parents?
By contrast, Americaâs parent organizations âunequivocally oppose violenceâ and are made up of, not âdomestic terrorists,â but âconcerned citizens who care deeply about their communityâs children â and who are concerned by the direction that Americaâs schools have taken.â Itâs no secret many parents across the country are angry with what is happening (or not happening) in our taxpayer-funded schools:
Citizens are angry that school boards and school officials around the country are restricting access to public meetings, limiting public comment, and in some cases conducting business via text messages in violation of state open meetings laws.
They are angry that schools are charging them thousands of dollars in public records requests to view curriculum and training materials that impact their children and that should be open to the public by default.
They are angry that pandemic-related learning losses have compounded the already-low reading, writing, and math proficiency rates in Americaâs schools.
Parents are ultimately angry that rather than working to improve student achievement so our children actually learn in our countryâs schools, âlarge numbers of districts have chosen to fund, often with hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money, âsocial justiceâ and âdiversity, equity, and inclusionâ programs with finite resources.â
It is very revealing that instead of listening to and addressing the concerns of parents, the NSBA chose âto smear their constituents rather than engage with them in good faith.â The concerns of parents are, of course, due to the leftist policies embraced and implemented by the school boards that are supposedly accountable to the parents of their respective districts.
âIt is appalling that [NSBA] would choose to threaten your fellow Americans for having the courage to hold you accountable for your failures,â said the parent organizations. âWe will not be bullied. We will not have our speech chilled. We have a constitutional right to petition our elected officials, and we will continue to do soâ in order to âaddress and improve the quality of Americaâs public education system for all children.â
Bravo to Americaâs âparents, grandparents, and concerned citizensâ for not being intimidated by the NSBAâs shameful tactics and for putting Americaâs children first in the face of blatant leftist bullying.