Pelican State News

The Louisiana School Board Association (LSBA) has left the National School Boards Association (NSBA) following the group’s characterization of parents attending school board meetings as “domestic terrorists.”

The LSBA is one of five states to leave the national body. The others are Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“On Friday, October 15, 2021, the Louisiana School Boards Association (LSBA) Board of Directors held a meeting. The agenda included consideration of the LSBA’s

continued involvement in the National School Boards Association (NSBA). After discussing benefits and concerns, the LSBA Board of Directors voted to direct the

Executive Director of the LSBA to notify the NSBA that the Association would not continue membership," the LSBA said in a statement announcing the decision.

"The Association has not yet paid membership dues to the NSBA for the 2021-2022 year, so there is no expected revenue forfeiture associated with this decision. This

decision follows the NSBA’s recent request for federal intervention (See the LSBA’s response to the NSBA’s request issued October 8, 2021). However, the LSBA Board

of Directors had previously taken under advisement a possible withdrawal from the NSBA due to ongoing concerns over management, leadership, and the general direction of their organization.

Today’s decision by the LSBA Board of Directors is an official response that the LSBA can no longer identify the value of continued membership in the organization.

The LSBA Board of Directors feels it is best to redirect the resources previously allocated to the NSBA to educational advocacy efforts that more closely align with the LSBA’s guiding principles developed by its membership. The LSBA is committed to supporting school systems across the state. We thank you for your leadership in public education and look forward to new and exciting opportunities for our members.”

The NSBA entered unchartered territory when it asked President Joe Biden for assistance in dealing with irate parents expressing concern about controversial curriculum in schools, such as critical race theory, and COVID-related policies such as mask and vaccine mandates.

In response, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland enlisted no less than the Federal Bureau of Investigations to assist.

“The Department is steadfast in its commitment to protect all people in the United States from violence, threats of violence, and other forms of intimidation arid harassment,” Garland said in a memo.

Garland’s actions were widely criticized.  

The NASB itself later distanced itself from the initial memo noting, “there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter.”

Last week, it was revealed that Garland’s daughter, Rebecca Garland, is married to Alexander “Xan” Newman, co-founder of Panorama Education.

Panorama Education contracts with school boards across the country to offer “social-emotional learning.”

The company is unabashedly leftist even though its main stream of income appears to come from public school systems.

For example, the company offered up a book list via Twitter including a work by former leftwing terrorist Willam Ayers.

Raj Pillai, a parent and activist in Plainfield, Illinois, said he believes Panorama Education is benefiting from COVID relief funds that school boards must direct to the company. Pillai’s school board, Plainfield School District 202, like many others across the nation, has quietly paid $144,000 to Panorama in recent years.

Garland’s office was also in close contact with the NASB in the weeks leading up to its announcement leaving many to speculate the original letter was drafted with Garland’s assistance.