It’s been three years since Attorney General Merrick Garland signed his infamous memo instructing the Department of Justice to target and investigate concerned parents for harassment, intimidation, and “violent threats” against school boards and administrators.
Yet despite a congressional determination that the memo had “no legitimate basis,” it has never been rescinded, meaning it still hangs over activists’ heads like the sword of Damocles, a constant reminder of the federal government’s sinister agenda to demonize and silence parents’ engagement in their children’s education.
In 2021, heated parent-school board exchanges around topics such as COVID-19 policies, a sexual assault cover-up in northern Virginia, and race-centric curriculum began to gain national attention, much to the chagrin of bureaucrats and political pundits at the local, state, and federal levels.
Cue the National School Boards Association, which sent a letter to the Biden administration suggesting that parents’ acts of protest be classified as “domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” An early draft even recommended leveraging the National Guard against parents for daring to “intimidate” elected school board members by speaking out at public meetings and in the media, filing lawsuits, and “threatening” to defeat them at the ballot box.
This cozy collaboration was exposed through public records requests filed by Parents Defending Education and America First Legal. The ensuing public outrage may very well have affected Virginia’s 2021 gubernatorial election and added rocket fuel to the burgeoning parental rights movement.
To date, only former NSBA Interim Executive Director and CEO Chip Slaven has been identified and held accountable. Information obtained by America First Legal, however, suggests the Biden-Harris White House offered up the Department of Justice to do the NSBA’s bidding, and the DOJ and NSBA gladly accepted. In fact, records reveal that Slaven was briefed on the memo by the Department of Justice before it was released to United States attorneys and the public.
DOJ officials have testified and admitted in emails that while the basis for Garland’s order came in part from unconfirmed media reports, its impetus was the NSBA letter.
Clearly, the Garland memo was, and remains, a gross weaponization of criminal and counterterrorism resources at a time when the country faces myriad threats, both foreign and domestic. Just as concerning, though, is that far too many bureaucrats believe education is purely a governmental institution and parents have no place questioning how the system is run or exercising their constitutional rights to hold their elected officials accountable. Woe betides anyone who expects oversight, accountability, or integrity in public education.
Three years ago, the federal government made a conscious decision: Rather than listening and responding to families’ concerns regarding their children’s education, it would be better to weaponize its police powers to frighten, intimidate, and silence families because Slaven and the NSBA had an open line to the Biden-Harris White House. In retrospect, this comes as no surprise. Teachers unions and the education-industrial complex contribute billions to progressive causes and toward electing their puppets to local office. It’s impossible to keep the gravy train running without sacrificing the well-being of a few million students.
The Garland memo serves as a stark reminder of what the federal government is willing to do to those who refuse to bend the knee to a progressive agenda that is reviled by a majority of America.
For having the temerity to expect that tax dollars be used to provide students with a high-quality education, innocent citizens engaging in the public square have been targeted, surveilled, investigated, and threatened under the guise of the “Patriot Act.” The DOJ’s campaign against parents remains a shameful manipulation of federal law and creates a dangerous precedent for future violations of Americans’ civil rights.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In 1967, Ronald Reagan noted that “freedom is a fragile thing, and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance. It must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.” If America’s children are to become the free-thinking, well-educated citizens and leaders this country needs to protect its tradition of freedom, the integrity and excellence of their education must not be surrendered to the federal government.
The battle for our children’s minds and education is a battle for the future. But this battle cannot be fought and won if parents of the next generation do not have the right to speak freely and challenge injustice when we see it.
Nicole Neily is president and founder of Parents Defending Education. Ian Prior is senior adviser at America First Legal.