The parent movement scored another victory, as confirmed last night, with a vote taken by the Alabama School Board Association. That association voted to leave the National School Boards Association which brings the number to 26 states that have distanced themselves from or terminated their membership with the national organization, as noted by Christopher Rufo on Twitter.

The parent movement has broken the National School Boards Association. They tried labeling parents "domestic terrorists"—and parents fought back. https://t.co/ZcLdSviORL

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) December 3, 2021

It turns out that parents don’t appreciate being labeled as domestic terrorists and investigated by the Department of Justice. The National School Boards Association was caught red-handed with coordinating with the White House in sending a letter to DOJ asking for help in stifling parents’ participation in the education of their children. Merrick Garland came under fire for agreeing to go along with the scheme, then lying to Congress about his involvement. Garland told Congress that there was no coordination between DOJ and NSBA. Garland lied under oath to Congress when he said there was no coordination between DOJ and NSBA. Parents Defending Education obtained internal emails through a FOIA request which exposed the connection.

The National School Boards Association, like teacher unions, wields entirely too much sway with politicians and elected officials. If the parent movement can break the NSBA, perhaps there is hope down the line in breaking the teacher unions, too. If I’m not mistaken, Alabama is the twelfth state to make a break with NSBA. Other state school boards have officially distanced themselves from the organization. Alabama appears on an older list of states planning to make the move they made yesterday.

Thursday Florida school board members explained why they made a break with NSBA.

The Florida School Boards Association chose to sever their relationship with the National School Boards Association during a conference Tuesday.

Okaloosa County School Board Chairman Tim Bryant told Channel 3 that not listening to the Florida board and a stack of other issues led to the school board’s withdrawal.

Lack of transparency and the current leadership were some of the issues.

Now Florida joins 11 other states in severing their relationship with the national organization by withholding their $46,000 in dues.

Escambia County School Board Member Kevin Adams told Channel 3 that the Florida board already has a lobbyist that does great work for them in Washington D.C.

That is quite a tidy sum taken from state school boards by the national organization – $46,000. One Florida board member said there are talks now going on to create a new federation with other states. An Escambia County School Board member said it’s in the state’s best interest to be part of a national organization with advocates in Washington, D.C. but NSBA has lost its way.

State school boards across the country are making the same decision to leave. Some states are keeping quiet on making decisions to separate from the national organization.

26 states have distanced themselves from the NSBA’s letter: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Among them, 11 states have taken action by withdrawing their membership, participation, or dues from NSBA: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

Several states did not respond to PDE’s letter at all: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia. California replied by stating that it declined to respond to the questions.

“We believe the letter from NSBA leadership demonstrated how out of touch the national association is with the concerns of local school boards and the principle of local control,” Ohio’s association said. “Because of that, OSBA no longer sees the value of continued NSBA membership.”

Let those states bury their heads in the sand with their cowardly silence. Angry parents fed up with non-transparent bureaucrats siding against parents of school children will rise up in their states, too. All parents feel the pull to do their best to educate their children. This is a huge opportunity for the school choice movement. The time is now for more choices as the old system circles the drain. The pandemic shined a light on the propagandist materials in schools, at all levels not just graduate courses as we were told of CRT in public schools. The focus to politicalize students and produce young political activists is strong in many districts.

The Alabama Association of School Boards noted that the NSBA went rogue with its letter labeling parents as domestic terrorists and requesting intervention by DOJ. Why be a member if members aren’t consulted, especially on such a wide-sweeping and consequential decision?

“There is a place for a national voice on the extreme behavior we are seeing at local board meetings. There is a need to expose the verifiable activities of groups whose stated goal is to disrupt school board meetings,” an email from Sally Smith, executive director for the Alabama Association of School Boards, reads, according to documents obtained by Parents Defending Education, a conservative advocacy group. “That opportunity is now lost. NSBA’s letter to the president was so incompetent it achieves neither of these goals, and in fact, did far more harm than good.”

“If NSBA is going to be a shill for an administration (any administration) to the detriment of many of its members, what rational explanation is there for failure to involve the board in this decision?” she asked in another email.

It’s a start. Hopefully, the twelve state boards will be joined by the others to hold NSBA accountable and hit them in the pocketbook by denying them the $46,000 dues fee. Parents can shrink them out of existence.