Tuesday’s vote by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards [WASB] was to not renew its membership in the National School Boards Association [NSBA]. This follows a mass exodus of state school board groups after the controversy about angry parents being compared with domestic terrorists.
After voting to withdraw from NSBA activities and programs in November, the WASB made its decision. The group cited “ongoing concerns” regarding the NSBA leadership, governance structure, transparency, and transparency. The group also concluded that Wisconsin’s school boards are not effectively represented at the national level.
“The NSBA leadership’s actions last fall inflicted unnecessary damage on school board relationships and exacerbated partisan tensions,” the WASB stated. In a statement to its members, the WASB stated that the actions of the NSBA leadership caused more than half the country’s state school board associations to disengage from the NSBA.
The WASB stated that Dr. John Heim, the new executive director of the NSBA, is encouraging them.
After the Justice Department made the comparison between actions taken by parents at school board meetings and domestic terrorist acts last fall, dozens of states have followed suit. Nearly half of the country left the organization after the NSBA sent a letter to Biden.
Independent investigation was conducted by the NSBA to determine internal factors that led to this decision.
Independent review found that the letter was not extensively reviewed or approved by the organization. The finalized letter was also not made available to the entire NSBA Board of Directors and NSBA members until it was submitted.
According to an early draft of the letter that was released by the independent review, the National School Boards Association demanded the deployment of the Army National Guard as well as the military police to supervise school board meetings.
The draft of the NSBA letter stated, in contrast to the final, that “We ask for the Army National Guard to be deployed to certain schools districts and related events where students or school personnel have been subject to acts and threats to violence.”
The NSBA was criticised for sending a letter to the White House, and a resulting memo from Attorney General Merrick Galrland. Although the organization apologized, it didn’t stop the backlash from many states, who either distanced themselves or cut all ties with the organization.
Parents Defending Education reports that 30 states have distanced from the NSBA letter. These include Alabama, Arizona Arkansas, California Delaware, Florida and Georgia, Idaho, Illinois. Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana. Mississippi, Missouri. Montana, New Hampshire. New Jersey. North Carolina. North Dakota. Ohio. Pennsylvania. South Carolina. Tennessee. Texas. Virginia. West Virginia. Wisconsin.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, school board meetings have been a battleground between parents and school board members.
Parents across the country are protesting against coronavirus-induced mandates at schools and curriculums that are associated with critical race theories.
Although most school districts deny the idea that students are being taught CRT directly, some school districts point out elements of the academic school school of thought that have infiltrated the school system.
These disagreements have led parents from all over the country to run for office on their local school boards.
