All
the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Attorney General
Garland two letters about the Justice Department’s involvement in local
school-board matters. The first one was in October.
Then in December
we asked why the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division was getting involved in
parents expressing their concerns at school board meetings. Now, just to be
crystal clear, there’s no excuse for real threats or acts of violence at school
board meetings, but if there are such threats, these should be handled at the
local level and the Attorney General should withdraw his memo that started this
whole thing.
Well,
a couple days before Christmas, the Justice Department responded
to us with just a one-page letter.
In
that letter, DOJ had nothing to say about why the FBI’s Counterterrorism
Division was involved in local school-board matters. DOJ just said, “We’re not
going to withdraw the memo.” So, the Feds may be keeping track of school board
meetings—even if it creates a horrible chilling effect. And, of course the FBI
looking over your shoulder would have a chilling effect. Next week the
Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on domestic terrorism. I hope we’re
going to be focusing on the serious threats facing our country—and I hope no
one thinks the focus is on our nation’s parents.
School
boards have to be accountable to the parents they serve. Some school boards
across the country are still shutting down classes even though vaccines have
been available for a long time now and dramatically reduce the chances of major
illnesses to teachers.
Meanwhile
millions of kids across the country are struggling to catch up. They’re under
enormous stress from being separated from one another for so long. Schools are
seeing far more behavioral problems than they ever have. Parents are right to
be concerned and to ask questions.
They
should be telling their school districts that they want to see changes. But
will they? Will the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division be keeping track of them as
parents ask for changes?
The
Department of Justice owes the American people a better answer than just a
one-page letter that says nothing about why the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division
is involved in local school-board matters.
Now
more than ever, parents should be their kids’ strongest and best advocates. They
have the God-given right to do so. And the Justice Department ought to be doing
everything it can to protect that right, not scare them out of exercising that
right.
Attorney
General Garland should withdraw his memo. And he should take Congress’s
oversight, and concern for the rights of parents, more seriously.
