School Board Group Asks Biden’s Help with Anti-CRT ‘Domestic Terrorist’ Parents

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden speaks with reporters as he de
AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File
Dr. Susan Berry

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has written a letter to President Joe Biden, requesting “federal law enforcement and other assistance” to cope with angry parents concerned about their children wearing masks in school all day and learning concepts of Critical Race Theory (CRT).

The NSBA “respectfully asks for federal law enforcement and other assistance to deal with the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation,” the letter reads, and continues:

NSBA believes immediate assistance is required to protect our students, school board members, and educators who are susceptible to acts of violence affecting interstate commerce because of threats to their districts, families, and personal safety … Coupled with attacks against school board members and educators for approving policies for masks to protect the health and safety of students and school employees, many public school officials are also facing physical threats because of propaganda purporting the false inclusion of critical race theory within classroom instruction and curricula.

“This propaganda continues despite the fact that critical race theory is not taught in public schools and remains a complex law school and graduate school subject well beyond the scope of a K-12 class,” NSBA asserts, one month after the United States Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution during its annual convention in which its members pledged to support the teaching of CRT in K-12 schools.

“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the nation’s mayors support the implementation of CRT in the public education curriculum to help engage our youth in programming that reflects an accurate, complete account of BIPOC history,” the mayors stated.

NSBA, however, continues the narrative of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and numerous superintendents of schools throughout the country who have denied CRT is being taught in their school districts despite partnering with companies that train teachers in the tenets of CRT so that they are equipped to indoctrinate their students.

Turning to mask mandates in schools, NSBA first thanks Biden profusely for his “leadership to end the proliferation of COVID-19 in our communities and our school districts.”

The group also introduces its comments with the statement: “Local school board members want to hear from their communities on important issues and that must be at the forefront of good school board governance and promotion of free speech.”

But, then NSBA makes its request:

Now, we ask that the federal government investigate, intercept, and prevent the current threats and acts of violence against our public school officials through existing statutes, executive authority, interagency and intergovernmental task forces, and other extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of our children and educators, to protect interstate commerce, and to preserve public school infrastructure and campuses.

Citing threats to school officials and local school board members that have been received in the mail and via social media, NSBA “asks that a joint collaboration among federal law enforcement agencies, state and local law enforcement, and with public school officials be undertaken to focus on these threats.”

“NSBA specifically solicits the expertise and resources of the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, and its National Threat Assessment Center regarding the level of risk to public schoolchildren, educators, board members, and facilities/campuses,” the school board group states in its letter signed by Viola M. Garcia, Ed.D., the group’s president, and Chip Slaven, Esq., NSBA interim executive director and CEO.

NSBA also asks Biden to issue an executive order that would serve to protect school officials and school board members from parents by reviewing “appropriate enforceable actions against these crimes and acts of violence under the Gun-Free School Zones Act, the PATRIOT Act in regards to domestic terrorism, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the Violent Interference with Federally Protected Rights statute, the Conspiracy Against Rights statute.”

People hold up signs during a rally against "critical race theory" (CRT) being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Virginia on June 12, 2021. - "Are you ready to take back our schools?" Republican activist Patti Menders shouted at a rally opposing anti-racism teaching that critics like her say trains white children to see themselves as "oppressors." "Yes!", answered in unison the hundreds of demonstrators gathered this weekend near Washington to fight against "critical race theory," the latest battleground of America's ongoing culture wars. The term "critical race theory" defines a strand of thought that appeared in American law schools in the late 1970s and which looks at racism as a system, enabled by laws and institutions, rather than at the level of individual prejudices. But critics use it as a catch-all phrase that attacks teachers' efforts to confront dark episodes in American history, including slavery and segregation, as well as to tackle racist stereotypes. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

People hold up signs during a rally against “critical race theory” (CRT) being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Virginia, on June 12, 2021. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The school board group provides these incidents as examples of “threats or actual acts of violence against our school districts”:

An individual was arrested in Illinois for aggravated battery and disorderly conduct during a school board meeting. During two separate school board meetings in Michigan, an individual yelled a Nazi salute in protest to masking requirements, and another individual prompted the board to call a recess because of opposition to critical race theory.

In New Jersey, Ohio, and other states, anti-mask proponents are inciting chaos during board meetings. In Virginia, an individual was arrested, another man was ticketed for trespassing, and a third person was hurt during a school board meeting discussion distinguishing current curricula from critical race theory and regarding equity issues. In other states including Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Tennessee, school boards have been confronted by angry mobs and forced to end meetings abruptly. A resident in Alabama, who proclaimed himself as “vaccine police,” has called school administrators while filming himself on Facebook Live.

“Other groups are posting watchlists against school boards and spreading misinformation that boards are adopting critical race theory curriculum and working to maintain online learning by haphazardly attributing it to COVID-19,” NSBA continues.

According to Education Week, NSBA CEO Slaven responded to a question about whether his group thought local law enforcement intervention was insufficient to address situations that arose in the districts, by stating, “These incidents are beyond random acts. What we are now seeing is a pattern of threats and violence occurring across state lines and via online platforms, which is why we need the federal government’s assistance.”

On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is exploring its options in response to NSBA’s letter, and added, “We’d encourage individuals to report any threats they face to local and state law enforcement agencies.”

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