Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced a new initiative to “address the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel.” The action comes following a letter from the National School Boards Association to the Biden administration last week likening the activities of concerned parents at school board meetings to “domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
In response, Terry Schilling, president of American Principles Project (APP), released the following statement denouncing the administration’s move:
“Earlier this year, APP launched the ‘Big Family,’ a NRA-style membership program aimed at harnessing the combined clout of America’s families to influence the policy debate here in Washington and nationwide. Up until now, parents haven’t had a political advocacy group dedicated solely to representing them, and as a result, the family has consistently been ignored by lawmakers in favor of other well-funded special interests.
“Now, we are seeing a perfect example of this sad state of affairs. At a time when many parents across the country are stepping up to engage in their children’s education, an area over which they are primarily responsible, the Biden administration and Attorney General Merrick Garland have decided to respond by taking the side of powerful school boards and teachers unions. Make no mistake: while the DOJ’s announcement yesterday may purport to merely focus on ‘criminal conduct,’ it’s real intent is to further intimidate concerned parents into submission, despite the fact that many parents have already been targeted with harassment by corrupt school officials for simply asserting their right to have a say over what their children are taught. This is an outrage.
“Parents are not domestic terrorists, period. They are perfectly justified in being upset over the awful state of public education in so many communities. Children are being taught that biology doesn’t matter and that they can ‘change’ their gender. They are being taught to judge each other by skin color and that the country they have inherited is irredeemably racist. And too often, the subjects they actually ought to be learning are being taught ineffectively, or sometimes not at all.
“In a sane world, under a sane president, the DOJ would be investigating public school officials for a complete dereliction of duty in adequately educating and forming the next generation of American citizens. Unfortunately, it is now clear the current administration is anything but sane. Parents should ignore this latest attempt at intimidation and continue to respectfully and vigorously engage in the political process on behalf of their children. There is no more important issue we could be involved in.”
