The Pennsylvania School Boards Association severed ties with the National School Boards Association over a letter comparing parents’ behavior at school board meetings to “domestic terrorism or hate crimes.”
The Pennsylvania association wrote in an internal memorandum that “the final straw” in the organization’s decision to leave the association was a letter sent to President Joe Biden in September “suggesting that some parents should be considered domestic terrorists,” the Daily Wire reported.
“The Governing Board of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association has voted unanimously to cancel the PSBA’s longstanding membership in the National School Board’s Association,” the memo reportedly said.
TERRY MCAULIFFE WANTS THE STATE TO CONTROL YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATION
The Pennsylvania group argued membership in the national association should provide a sense of “value and support” to the state’s organization, but within the past several years, Pennsylvania and several other states have pondered whether or not continued membership offers any significant value.
“This misguided approach has made our work and that of many school boards more difficult,” the memo said, referring to the letter’s likening of parents to domestic terrorists. “Now is not the time for more politics and posturing, it is time for solutions to the many challenges facing education.”
The letter sent to Biden on Sept. 29 from the NSBA requests the assistance of federal law enforcement officials and agencies in quenching the parental anger toward educators and school board officials in regards to mask mandates, curricula such as critical race theory, and other polarizing issues.
“As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” the letter said.
Among the incidents the NSBA likened to domestic terrorism was the arrest of the father of an alleged sexual assault victim, who was apprehended during a June 22 school board meeting in Loudoun County after detailing his daughter’s claims of sexual assault. Along with his wife, the father, Scott Smith, announced a lawsuit against the school district on Thursday, calling the alleged May 28 attack of their daughter “predictable and preventable” and the charges following his arrest “wrongful and unconstitutional.”
Loudoun County Public Schools told the Washington Examiner the district “cooperates fully with law-enforcement agencies in the investigation of alleged crimes on school property and does not comment on pending investigations or legal proceedings.” The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office confirmed “a May 28, 2021, case at Stone Bridge High School that involved a thorough 2-month-long investigation that was conducted to determine the facts of the case prior to arrest” but provided no further details as the case is pending.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum on Oct. 4 calling on the FBI to work with “federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial leaders” to address what he outlines as being a “disturbing” amount of threats of violence made toward teachers and school board members.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association for comment but did not receive a response back.
