National School Boards Association apologizes for letter comparing parents who speak out to 'domestic terrorists'
Parent panel joins 'Fox & Friends Weekend' and tells why they are standing up to the school boards, say they don't want their children indoctrinated with radical ideologies.
Early demands from the National School Boards Association to the White House included calling for the deployment of the Army National Guard and the military police to monitor school board meetings, according to an early draft letter the organization's independent review released Friday.
In contrast to the final version, the draft of the NSBA letter said, "We ask that the Army National Guard and its Military Police be deployed to certain school districts and related events where students and school personnel have been subjected to acts and threats of violence."
Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, April 26, 2022. (Greg Nash/Pool Photo via AP)
The NSBA had originally sent a letter to President Biden in September 2021 that asked for parents protesting at school board meetings to be federally looked into, saying school officials were facing threats and violence at meetings. Most significantly the NSBA requested in its original letter that parents' actions should be examined under the Patriot Act as "domestic terrorists."
Then, on Oct. 4, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum instructing the FBI to collaborate with state and local leaders to address "threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff." He went on to say that this collaboration "will open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment, and response."
Opponents of critical race theory attend a packed Loudoun County School board meeting, June 22, 2021. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
The NSBA's early draft also called parents speaking out "plotters who are targeting schools and educators."
Another removed portion cast doubt on whether critical race theory is being taught in schools. It said, "An increasing number of public school officials is facing physical threats because of propaganda purporting the inclusion of critical race theory within classroom instruction and curricula."
Opponents of critical race theory protest outside the Loudoun County School Board headquarters, in Ashburn, Virginia, June 22, 2021. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
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The independent review also showed the collaboration between the NSBA, the White House and the Department of Justice as well as internal responses to the swift blow back.