Moms, Mom Lawmakers Respond to School Boards, DOJ: ‘Parents’ Rights Are Fundamental and Supreme’

Mothers across the United States, including those who are legislators at the state and federal level, have published a letter slamming the National School Boards Association and President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) for targeting parents who want to hold elected officials accountable for what is being taught to their children.

The DOJ responded to Biden’s dictate that the federal agency crack down on parents speaking at school board meetings, going so far as to describe these parents as domestic terrorists.

Some parents have even been arrested.

The letter, spearheaded by Moms for America, includes the signatures of Mercedes Schlapp, senior fellow for the American Conservative Union, Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Tammy Nichols (R-ID); and state Sens. Christy Zito (Idaho) and Kim Thatcher (Oregon).

The letter reads in part:

Moms are justifiably angry. Our children are being exposed to inappropriate sexual content, gender indoctrination, anti-family, and anti-American propaganda, and the tenets of critical race theory – all under the NSBA indoctrination umbrella of Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Our nation’s children are being taught to hate their country, hate their neighbor, and hate themselves.

Moms are showing up in school board meetings across the country to protest these radical ideas being thrust on their children, calling for a return to a classical liberal arts education where children can learn to think for themselves.  We want real science, true history, and classical education that teaches kids to read, write, calculate, and be good citizens. That doesn’t make us domestic terrorists; it makes us responsible parents.

These are our children. Parents’ rights are fundamental and supreme. Elected officials and school administrators must recognize and respect this fundamental right.  Schools, as well as other community and government organizations, are designed to support the family unit, not replace or regulate it.

DOJ’s response to parental concerns were directed by a letter the school boards association sent to Biden, which said, in part:

America’s public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat. The National School Boards Association (NSBA) respectfully asks for federal law enforcement and other assistance to deal with the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation. Local school board members want to hear from their communities on important issues and that must be at the forefront of good school board governance and promotion of free speech. However, there also must be safeguards in place to protect public schools and dedicated education leaders as they do their jobs.

NSBA believes immediate assistance is required to protect our students, school board members, and educators who are susceptible to acts of violence affecting interstate commerce because of threats to their districts, families, and personal safety. 

“The United States Constitution is the law of the land, and the federal government, by law, must operate within the confines of the Constitution,” the moms’ letter said:

The Department of Justice has no authority to limit the speech or assembly of concerned mothers addressing their state and local school boards or dictate to local law enforcement to inhibit a mother’s right to do so. If the NSBA truly has the interests of our children’s safety and education in mind, they would welcome the input of parents addressing concerns instead of seeking the federal government’s aid in silencing them.

“The American Conservative Union urges Conservative legislators across America to limit the use of state and local tax dollars to subsidize the NSBA’s radical agenda,” Schlapp said in the announcement of the letter. “We will recommend to our sister organization, the American Conservative Union Foundation, to score any bills that limit wasteful spending on political indoctrination.”

Moms for America included the organizations represented in the letter: Protect Our Kids, Florida Citizens Alliance Seeking Educational Excellence, Patriots for Delaware School Committee, Center for Christian Virtue, Ohio Fair Education, Strengthen Utah Families, Fight for Our School, and Conservative Ladies of Washington.

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