On Thursday, the Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA) became the first school district in the US to officially end their membership with the National School Board Association (NSBA). The Pennsylvania members voted unanimously to leave the group after the National board sent a letter to Biden that asked him to use federal agencies to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute concerned parents who speak out against radical school policies and CRT-based curriculums.
The unbelievable NSBA letter called on Biden to use every available federal law enforcement agency to crack down on dissenting parents and implored him to categorize them as “domestic terrorists.”
Just days later, Biden’s DOJ went along with the request and sicked the FBI on these concerned American parents.
The NSBA letter was the “final straw” for the Pennsylvania board who worked quickly to hold a vote. After what they say were “significant deliberations,” every member of the group voted to depart the NSBA. They made the official announcement on Thursday in a letter that was sent out to their constituents.
“The governing board of the Pennsylvania School Board Association has voted unanimously to cancel PSBA’s long-standing membership in the National School Boards Association. The decision was reached following significant deliberations and discussions with counsel and management.
The most recent national controversy surrounding a letter to President Biden suggesting that some parents should be considered domestic terrorists was the final straw.”
The PSBA oversees 500 school districts and over 4500 elected board members.
PSBA governing board voted to LEAVE the NSBA, citing the letter to Biden as the last straw. pic.twitter.com/iDBMqZvTkL
— Joan M Cullen
(@JoanieBaloney90) October 15, 2021
The announcement made it clear that Pennsylvania’s relationship with the national board had been on shaky grounds for quite a while, citing a misguided and politically driven approach by the NSBA leadership that has made life “more difficult” for public educators and their students.
From the letter:
“The value of the NSBA federation membership has been questioned numerous times over the past several years both within Pennsylvania and amongst many other state school boards associations.
It has been a struggle for the board and leadership of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association to identify a reason to continue to be a part of a federation that is not focused on bipartisanship, civility, and seeking solutions to the internal problems.
This misguided approach has made our work and that of many school boards more difficult. It has fomented more disputes and cast partisanship on our work on behalf of school directors, when we seek to find common ground and support all school directors in their work, no matter their politics.
Now is not the time for more politics and posturing, it is the time for solutions to the many challenges facing education.”
The PSBA is far from alone in its dissatisfaction with the radical National Association. According to Parents Defending Education – a national advocacy group – School Board Associations from 16 different states have disassociated from the NSBA in some way or another after their letter was sent to Biden.
The states that condemned the authoritarian letter are Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming.
Besides Pennsylvania ending their national membership, the strongest pushback to the NSBA letter came from the Florida SBA, who issued a firey official statement on October 11th that demanded public acknowledgment of the inexcusable federal overreach that the NSBA asked for, as well as a comprehensive review of national leadership.
The Florida board also pointed out that they were not consulted before the National association included the state in its letter.
“I am writing to you today on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) to voice our concern of the letter the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent to President Joe Biden dated September 29, 2021, without consultation of our association or your own board of directors. FSBA strongly encourages a review of NSBA leadership and its processes, as well as urges a public acknowledgement of the federal overreach expressed in your letter.
This communication has caused serious concerns, conflict, and consternation for many of our members within the FSBA. Not only has it unnecessarily distracted from the important work being carried out by our members, it has strained important local and state collaborative relationships our members have worked hard to build and maintain for years.”
Similar to Pennsylvania – which has been on bad terms with the national board for a while – the Florida SBA has refused to pay its membership dues since July and has no plans to pay anytime soon with how things are going.
“As you are aware, we did not submit payment for 2020–2021 dues, which were due July 1, 2021. We have been clear about reassessing the value of our affiliation with NSBA due to concerns surrounding NSBA’s governance, leadership, transparency, and failure to embrace non-partisanship.
Due to the fact we have not seen the changes we would have expected given the number of states, who are your members and have expressed these and similar concerns, nor have we received any promised plan or timeline to accomplish these changes, we will continue to withhold our dues until further notice.”
The post “The Final Straw:” Pennsylvania School Board Association Votes Unanimously to End Membership With NSBA Over Biden Letter That Asked For Parents to Be Classified as Domestic Terrorists appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
