Angry mobs. Police tape. Obscenities hurled at elected officials. Smashed windows. Physical confrontations, assaults and arrests. The unruly and violent conduct at many school board meetings, plus death threats directed toward elected members, has risen to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes, the national group representing school boards said Thursday in a letter to President Joe Biden’s administration. The National School Boards Association requested an investigation by the U. S. Departments of Justice, Education and Homeland Security and assistance from the FBI to maintain safety for school board members, as well as district staff and students.”We urge the federal government’s intervention against individuals or hate groups who are targeting our schools and educators,” the letter said. School board meetings in many communities have become the epicenter of increasingly uncivil arguments and sometimes violent altercations over everything from COVID-19 protocols to how classrooms address race, equity, social justice and sexual equality. Those latter issues are often lumped under the teaching of “critical race theory” – recently, a term used to fuel a firestorm of conservative action against inclusion efforts and classroom content in public schools. School teachers have not historically taught the law school framework, which probes how racial discrimination permeates institutions and society to perpetuate inequities. Public schools do, however, tend to embrace equity and diversity of race and opinion. They’ve moved in that direction for years because students tend to learn more readily when they feel accepted and safe in class, and when their experiences are reflected in discussions and activities, research shows. Those fighting against critical race theory are wrongly conflating those issues, said National School Boards Association Interim CEO Chip Slaven. The association represents more than 90,000 school board members who govern the country’s approximate 14,000 school districts. Along with attacks related to requiring masks against COVID-19, “Many public school officials are also facing physical threats because of propaganda purporting the false inclusion of critical race theory within classroom instruction and curricula,” the letter signed by Garcia and Slaven said.”As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”In an interview Thursday, Slaven said the letter may not immediately cause federal agencies to swoop in, but he hopes it raises awareness among parents. He believes a silent majority is being drowned out by a vocal and uncivil minority responsible for the unrest and threats.
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