NSBA coordinated with White House before sending school board memo
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett says Attorney General Garland is 'weaponizing' the Department of Justice to silence parents who voice dissent at school board meetings.
A member of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) directed her Wyoming school district not to use Panorama Education after news surfaced that Attorney General Merrick Garland's son-in-law had founded the company tied to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, according to recently-released emails.
The revelation came as part of a host of emails obtained by Parents Defending Education (PDE), which opposes "woke" indoctrination in schools. The emails offer new details on the fallout from NSBA's controversial letter suggesting that school board opposition might include domestic terrorists.
Co-founded by Garland's son-in-law Alexander "Xan" Tanner, Panorama's ties to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have also prompted skepticism as his company has come under fire for the way it uses data and impacts users' psychological health.
Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining the Department of Justice on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis/Pool via AP)
In an email from Oct. 13, Teton County School District Trustee Janine Bay Teske instructed her district's superintendent not to use Panorama – only to find out that her state was already working with Panorama.
"Let's make sure we don't use this company!!" wrote Teske, who is listed as a member of NSBA's Board of Directors for 2020-2021.
NSBA COORDINATED WITH WHITE HOUSE, DOJ BEFORE SENDING NOTORIOUS ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISTS’ LETTER: EMAILS
Teske linked to an article about Garland's relationship to the company, which has led to testy exchanges between Republicans and the attorney general.
An empty classroom with the chairs up in Bavaria, Munich. (Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Gillian Chapman, the district's superintendent, replied: "We pay for Panorama SEL [social-emotional learning] and Climate Surveys and data dashboard."
Apparently referring to the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE), she added: "WDE uses Panorama for one of the Alternative School Accountability metrics (which SIS has to do)."
Panorama has reportedly racked up at least $27 million from school districts and supported 1,500 U.S. school systems. The company previously said it supported "13 million students in districts of all shapes and sizes. Fifty-plus of the largest 100 districts in the country and state agencies use Panorama Education, including the New York City Department of Education, Clark County School District (Nevada), Dallas ISD (Texas) and the Hawaii Department of Education."
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appears before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing Oct. 21. (Michael Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS)
"One in four American students is enrolled in a district served by Panorama Education today," it added.
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Chapman and Teske did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Panorama didn't either but, it previously pointed to an "FAQs" page, which outlines how it uses the data collected from students.
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