Show-Me State Times

The Missouri School Board Association (MSBA) has left the National School Boards Association (NSBA) following the national group’s characterization of parents attending school board meetings as “domestic terrorists.”

The Missouri association is one of five states to leave the national body. The others are Louisiana, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

The Missouri School Board Association made its announcement in the press statement below:

“Last week, your board of directors met and made the difficult decision to withdraw MSBA’s participation in the National School Boards Association, effective immediately.

This decision was not made lightly. The National School Boards Association, through its recent actions, such as its letter to the White House, has demonstrated it does not currently align with MSBA’s guiding principles of local governance.

School boards have always been asked to make tough decisions, and to do what is right for the students under their responsibility. These decisions often bring about thoughtful and rigorous discussion, which we believe is crucial to the discernment process.

We also believe that no school board member or educator should ever have to endure threats of violence or acts of intimidation against themselves or their families for making these difficult decisions. However, attempting to address that issue with federal intervention should not be the first step in most cases, and is antithetical to our longstanding tradition of local control. Further, the use of inflammatory terms in the NSBA letter is not a model for promoting greater civility and respect for the democratic process.

On Friday, the National School Boards Association distributed an apology. statement for the letter issued by their interim executive director and president. While that is a step in the right direction, we believe NSBA still has significant work ahead, both implementing processes and procedures to prevent similar problems in the future, as well as repairing their fractured relationships.”

The NSBA entered unchartered territory when it asked President Joe Biden for assistance in dealing with irate parents expressing concern about controversial curriculum in schools, such as critical race theory, and COVID-related policies such as mask and vaccine mandates.

In response, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland enlisted no less than the Federal Bureau of Investigations to assist.

“The Department is steadfast in its commitment to protect all people in the United States from violence, threats of violence, and other forms of intimidation arid harassment,” Garland said in a memo.

Garland’s actions were widely criticized.  

The NASB itself later distanced itself from the initial memo noting, “there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter.”

Last week, it was revealed that Garland’s daughter, Rebecca Garland, is married to Alexander “Xan” Newman, co-founder of Panorama Education.

Panorama Education contracts with school boards across the country to offer “social-emotional learning.”

The company is unabashedly leftist even though its main stream of income appears to come from public school systems.

For example, the company offered up a book list via Twitter including a work by former leftwing terrorist Willam Ayers.

Raj Pillai, a parent and activist in Plainfield, Illinois, said he believes Panorama Education is benefiting from COVID relief funds that school boards must direct to the company. Pillai’s school board, Plainfield School District 202, like many others across the nation, has quietly paid $144,000 to Panorama in recent years.

Garland’s office was also in close contact with the NASB in the weeks leading up to its announcement leaving many to speculate the original letter was drafted with Garland’s assistance.