School Boards suddenly view parents who voice opinions as “terrorists.”
In my years of working in the education system, I have worked under the supervision of many different school boards. Most of them were boards that never really did anything, merely rubber stamping whatever the Superintendent wanted to do. Why, I remember school board members who would fall asleep during meetings and even one who would have incontinent moments during meetings.
But I have never heard of school board members being afraid of parents to the extent that they would do what the National School Board Association did last week. They actually wrote the current resident of the White House and DOJ asking for “federal law enforcement and other assistance” to cope with the angry parents expressing their opinions over mask mandates and the teaching of overt racism in the schools. What’s even worse is the Attorney General’s awful response.
I mean, after all, how dare parents and taxpayers have the audacity to speak to these officials who obviously are the education and health gurus in their community. How dare they question someone who doesn’t know their child about the decisions that group is making for their child?
Funny thing is, most board members have little to no experience as educators and/or in the medical field. You may have an occassional retired educator or health professional, but the majority are from outside both of those occupations.
I’m not saying that is bad, what I am saying is that when these self proclaimed “gods” may feel that they don’t need to even consider the points groups of parents are making, it’s no wonder parents get a little hot under the collar. ( We have evidence of this attitude in emails from board members.)
One thing you have to realize about these boards is that most of them were elected to the position thinking that it would be an easy public service where those in charge of the schools would tell them what to do and they would do it. A few meetings, social events, walk throughs of schools and that would be the extent of their commitment. What a shock when they found out that they might actually have to speak up about what is right for kids instead of what is easy or finacially lucrative for the system. They might be expected to listen to parents.
Even though there are extensive sections of state and county policies and laws that outline the rights and duties of the board, most of them don’t know the details. They usually depend on a lawyer and a superintendent to tell them what they can and can’t do.
I have a friend who was a member of our local school board. In fact, this friend was the only school board member in my 30 years who actually spoke up and tried to question what the system was doing and whether it was actually right or good for kids. After a few meetings, this person realized that the superintendent and the lawyer not only didn’t want her to do anything or speak up, they didn’t want her to even read the information given to them about important decisions.
“We would have meetings,” she would say, ” and I would come prepared with the information they had sent me about votes to be conducted. I had actually read it all, and that made them mad because I asked questions and raised concerns.” The superintendent at the time actually hated this board member because she wouldn’t go along to get along. Needless to say, the rest of the members who served with her would sit there without comment most of the time ( especially the sleepers and whizzers).
To be sure, new board members are given an ” orientation,” but most of the time they don’t really know what their legal responsibilites are. So, if something comes up, they defer to the lawyer who may or may not tell them the truth.
And now, the boards are even more insulated as they limit public attendance at meetings and the number of speakers using “Covid safety” as cover. Which is interesting because even when parents are allowed to speak, many on the board don’t really give a crap. They are instructed not to engage in conversation with a speaker and sit there looking like the statues of Easter Island. If they listened at all, they can comment at the end of the meeting, but most don’t because they just want to get the hell out of there.
For example, at a board meeting this summer, there were speakers that addressed the implementation of CRT, the unresponsiveness of the Superintendent regarding questions about staff development cost and agendas, and a teacher in a school teaching critical race theory even though the system claims they don’t teach it. While citizens spoke, the Easter Island statues sat stone faced. At the end of the meeting, crickets. Not one comment, question, etc. And, by the way, the questions still haven’t been answered.
Maybe they are told not to break ranks with the rest of the board. Maybe they just don’t give a damn. Who knows?
What this does to parents and the public is infuriating. It is a clear message that no one in local government thinks they matter, even though they foot the bill. Even though these are their children. It is an attitude that foments an “us against them” mentality. This is bad enough if you are talking about general policies, but when you are mandating policies that parents think are harmful for their kids, watch out. Don’t mess with our kids.
At our last board meeting, even though only ten people were allowed inside, the current administration called local police to station themselves at the door of the building. I don’t know what they expected, Madame Lafarge and a crowd with torches? So, the five of us who could not get inside shared a wonderful converstation with the police and school security. What a waste of their time.
The bottom line is that the intent of the National Association of School Boards and the local administration is not to actually protect school boards but to put a chill on any parent who may want to come and speak. It’s similar to what the FBI and DOJ are doing to ANYONE who may express different viewpoints about politics, the election, and the mandates. They are suppressing protests and free speech by classifying anyone participating as the number one concern in this country, domestic terrorists.
They know that a normal citizen who wishes to express one of these opinions will now think twice before they join any organized action. They don’t want to be on the radar of national law enforcement and the tyrannical Biden regime.
I will admit that there have been some videos nationally of parents getting very loud, but when your children are involved, who doesn’t do everything they can to fight for them? And the anger usually starts when Board members attempt to shut the parents down.
Locally, parents tell me every week tales of awful things going on in the schools. Yet, when I suggest they do something about it such as contact the school, the county administration, or even just go to a board meeting, they don’t. While there was a flurry of protest prior to the opening of schools about the mask mandates, parents, like so many people on so many issues, have either been scared away or have pulled their kids out of schools to homeschool or go private. Many are afraid of repurcussions against their child. Many don’t have time since they work. Some don’t want to stand out in the crowd and become a target. So, they just shrug their shoulders and hope it will get better.
It won’t. Once boards and school administrations see that there will be no consequences to what they do, that they can silence parents effectively, nothing will change and it will get worse.
One local school is experiencing student fights at an alarming rate. Another is being innundated with students destroying school property. One school administrator admitted the situation was bad but said to a parent, ( paraphrased), ” I don’t know what to do about it.” That’s not a condemnation of the principal because I know that many times their hands are tied by ridiculous district, state and federal policies that actually don’t allow them to discipline certain students OR only allow them to give meaningless consequences such as in school suspension. The kids learn fast that they can do what they want with impunity. I know, I have seen it.
Whether the Board of Education is aware of these events or not, is not clear. If they are, they may either choose to ignore it or they think they shouldn’t interfere because that’s not their job. Many don’t know that THEY are the ones who can direct the Superintendent to complete certain actions. So, they sit like Easter Island statues.
The timing of this letter to the DOJ and Merritt Garland’s disgusting response is not accidental. They know that the next initiative will be the implementation of a vaccine mandate even though the Covid vaccines are not proven safe for kids. They want to put parents on notice; ” Sit down and do what we say or else.”
As a teacher, I was once told, “You get what you accept.” It means that if the students know that you don’t expect much out of them, you won’t get much out of them. When you expect them to work hard and learn, they are more likely to work hard and learn. It make time and commitment to get them to a point where they will meet your expectations, but when they do it is truly amazing.
We need to have the same philosophy with our officials. We need to send a clear statement that they work for US, and we expect them to do the job they were elected to do. And that job is to direct the work of our superintendents, monitor the policies and practices of our schools, and to listen to and address the needs and concerns of the parents and the taxpayers.
Regardless of whether they like it or not. Unless, of course, we want to live under a Communist regime.
Resources:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/10/03/school-board-group-asks-bidens-help-anti-crt-domestic-terrorist-parents/
