Y’all Politics
Mississippi School Boards Association withdraws from National School Boards Association
Decision comes after the NSBA sought to silence parents by way of the U.S. Department of Justice.
By Frank Corder
According to a letter sent from the Mississippi School Boards Association to the National School Boards Association, the Mississippi affiliate’s Board of Directors voted on November 15th to terminate its membership with the National Association (NSBA). The decision will be effective at the end of the term for which MSBA has paid its NSBA dues, which is June 30, 2022.
The decision to leave the NSBA was made following a September 29th letter from NSBA to President Joe Biden that used “inflammatory language,” and requesting for federal agencies to intervene in local communities against parents who protested COVID mandates and other actions. Mississippi’s Association says the NSBA’s letter was just one in a series of lapses in governance.
“MSBA can no longer allow NSBA to speak for our association or our membership and can no longer see the value of continued membership,” the Mississippi letter states.
To date, twelve states have officially withdrawn from NSBA. Another six state associations have not paid their dues for this year.
These states are pursing the formation of a new national organization to support the states, provide training, and foster coordination in a more reasonable manner than the NSBA has provided as of late.
The letter from Mississippi to the NSBA was signed by MSBA President Leroy Matthews and MSBA Executive Director Denotris Jackson.
Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker commended the MSBA Board of Directors for voting to terminate its membership with the NSBA.
“I commend the Mississippi School Boards Association for their sensible and measured approach to this issue. They are standing up for Mississippi parents. Recent attempts by the Biden Administration and the National School Boards Association to silence dissent should be met with a forceful rebuke,” Wicker said in a statement on Thursday. “Parents have a basic right to shape the education of their children, and they are right to be upset by the divisive ideas and harmful policies being implemented in many classrooms across our country. I hope the Mississippi School Boards Association will continue to stand for parents, students, and the future of our education system.”
Senator Wicker has been a vocal opponent of the Biden Administration’s recent actions to weaponize the Justice Department to intimidate and silence parents who speak out to protect their children.
He joined a resolution supporting parents’ right to be involved in the education of their children last month. That resolution encouraged schools and parents to engage in constructive and open dialogue regarding educational policies. It also demanded that Attorney General Merrick Garland rescind his October 4th memorandum that “inappropriately directs Federal law enforcement resources to be used against parents advocating on behalf of their children against harmful school policies, curricula, and instructional materials.”
Mississippi’s other U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith also joined in that resolution, as did 29 other cosponsors.