Ohio School Board Group Severs Ties With National Organization Over ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Letter

The Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) committee of trustees has voted to chopped ties with the National School Board Association (NSBA) implicit the latter’s effort to person national agents constabulary schoolhouse committee meetings crossed the country.

“The Board of Trustees’ determination was prompted by NSBA’s caller missive to President Joe Biden requesting national involution astatine section schoolhouse committee meetings,” OSBA Chief Executive Officer Rick Lewis said Tuesday successful a property merchandise (pdf).

The missive successful question (pdf), which was sent connected Sept. 29, urged that national instrumentality enforcement measurement successful to grip “threats oregon existent acts of violence” against schoolhouse leaders, alleging that “angry mobs” of parents who sought to explicit absorption to COVID-19 restrictions and the teaching of critical contention theory person been “inciting chaos” during schoolhouse committee meetings.

“As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against nationalist schoolhouse officials person increased, the classification of these heinous actions could beryllium the equivalent to a signifier of home coercion and hatred crime,” the NSBA argued successful the letter, encouraging the national authorities to invoke laws designed to antagonistic terrorism, specified arsenic the PATRIOT Act, to code the alleged threats.

The Ohio schoolhouse committee radical said they were not consulted by the nationalist federation astir the crafting of the letter, nor did they hold with the letter’s content.

“We were not informed of oregon asked for immoderate input into the instauration of the missive sent to the president,” Lewis said, adding that portion it’s important to support parental and assemblage treatment astatine schoolhouse committee meetings escaped from unit and harassment, specified interference should beryllium dealt with astatine the section level, not by national officials.

“We judge the missive from NSBA enactment demonstrated however retired of interaction the nationalist relation is with the concerns of section schoolhouse boards and the rule of section control. Because of that, OSBA nary longer sees the worth of continued NSBA membership,” helium said.

The announcement comes aft the NSBA walked backmost its wide criticized message, saying that “there was nary justification for immoderate of the connection included successful the letter.”

“We should person had a amended process successful spot to let for consultation connected a connection of this significance,” the NSBA said. “We apologize besides for the strain and accent this concern has caused you and your organizations.”

The OSBA is the latest successful a drawstring of authorities schoolhouse committee organizations that person reevaluated oregon ended their rank successful NSBA implicit the letter. According to statements collected by advocacy radical Parents Defending Education, arsenic of Oct. 21, 21 authorities chapters person distanced themselves from the federation organization, with astir of them clarifying that they were not consulted astir the letter.