The National School Boards Association commissioned an inquiry that found the organization was in regular contact with the Biden administration in the weeks leading up to its request for federal law enforcement to combat "domestic terrorism" at school board meetings.
Biden personally called the president of the NSBA board to thank her after receiving the letter, a fact she refused to mention publicly at the time because she didn't want to add to the image that the organization was "in collusion" with the White House, according to the story.The group was not operating on White House orders, according to an independent study released Friday afternoon. However, it was conferring with and pressuring the administration to take action in response to what its executive director viewed as a serious threat to local school board members from activists who showed up at meetings agitated and often vocally belligerent.
Republicans, conservative parent groups, and even NSBA members were outraged by the message. Following the uproar, about half of the state school board associations either departed or stated that they would leave.
As a result, the NSBA has established policies emphasizing its support for "local autonomy" and "parent participation," two cornerstones of today's conservative education politics. The nonpartisan nature of the group was stressed.The National School Boards Association makes a political blunder and is destroyed.
The NSBA letter, which was delivered in September, came at a time when parents and other conservative activists were swarming school board meetings, yelling and disrupting procedures, and occasionally acting violently or threatening to do so. They were enraged by pandemic-related limitations like mandatory masks, as well as how racism was taught and discussed in schools.
"As the number of acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school authorities has increased, these horrific acts may be classified as a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes," the letter stated.
Biden's administration reacted quickly. Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked the FBI to collaborate with US attorneys across the country to convene meetings with federal, state, and local officials to discuss the threats.Although the letter did not use the word "parents," opponents assumed that conservative parents were being branded terrorists because school board advocates are usually parents. Republicans in Congress, the NSBA board of directors, and activist groups protested, alleging that the NSBA was siding with conservatives in a highly politicized climate.
If the purpose of the school board association was to quell conservative parent objections, it backfired. It diverted the attention away from some terrifying threats and aggressive conduct — a school board member in Loudoun County, Va., for example, received months of nasty, vulgar, and threatening emails, Facebook messages, and phone calls — and toward a defiant defense of free speech and local sovereignty.
The NSBA apologized a few weeks after the letter was delivered, stating that "part of the language included had no validity." The organization went even further on Friday, dismissing the letter entirely.
"The letter directly contradicts our key principles to parent engagement, local control, and nonpartisanship," stated John Heim, the executive director who was appointed following the issue. "The letter's emotions do not reflect the NSBA's ideas or position." "At local school board meetings, the National School Boards Association does not seek or push for federal law enforcement intervention."
The NSBA released a 57-page report, as well as 551 pages of supporting documents. The NSBA hopes that the study, combined with its revised policies, will convince state associations to rejoin the organization. According to the National Small Business Association, eight states had left the organization as of Friday, with another 14 indicating that they want to do so.
The Consortium of State School Boards Association has already been formed by 22 states. Even with the new standards, Ohio School Boards Association executive director Rick Lewis stated on Saturday that the state had no interest in the NSBA. He stated, "This [new] group is progressing."
Former executive director Chip Slaven was sacked as the controversy grew, according to the inquiry undertaken by the law firm Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. Before writing the letter, he shared it with the association's four officers, rather than the entire board of directors, as some later suggested. (According to the study, there was no precedent or policy requiring Slaven to consult with the board before delivering communications.)
Slaven said in a statement that his original letter was in perfect condition.
"As seen by the many bogus assaults on the NSBA's letter, the attack on public schools is very serious," Slaven stated. "For standing up to violence and intimidation, the group owes no one an apology." I'm disappointed to see that the NSBA's current leadership appears to be hesitant to speak out in support of local school board members and public school pupils."
Slaven had toned down the vitriol of an early version of the letter produced in part by staff, according to the newspaper. He took out a suggestion that the Army National Guard and its Military Police be deployed to specific school districts, for example.
Slaven and Viola M. Garcia, a Texas school board member, signed the original letter together. Garcia was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board soon after she received the call from Biden. Some have speculated that the White House sought the NSBA letter to explain its own intention to crack down on conservatives at school board meetings, and that Garcia was rewarded with the appointment for sending it. That was not supported by the findings.
The president of the conservative group Parents Defending Education, Nicole Neily, assisted in mobilizing opposition to the initial letter chevalier. The report, she said Friday, backs up her earlier claims that the White House and the NSBA were working closely behind the scenes. The uproar was sparked by her group's open records requests, which revealed the behind-the-scenes interactions.
"We now know that our fears were well-founded, thanks to today's findings," she said. "Incidents like this are one of the numerous reasons why trust between families and the educational institution has eroded over the last two years."
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