The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) announced Monday, May 23, that it was terminating its affiliation with the National School Board Association (NSBA).
TASB’s board of directors decided to cut ties after the NSBA released an independent investigative report on Friday, May 20, which disclosed how and why NSBA drafted a controversial letter to President Joe Biden in September 2021.
The letter called on the president to deploy federal law enforcement officers “to deal with the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring [at local school board meetings] across the nation.”
Angry parents and community members descended on local school board meetings in 2021 to protest several issues, including student mask mandates and school curriculums.
The letter provoked outrage for referring to protesters as “angry mobs” and comparing their behavior to “a form of domestic terrorism.”
The NSBA’s investigative report concluded that the former CEO and interim director of the NSBA, Chip Slaven, collaborated with White House aides on the letter. However, the Biden administration did not request the letter, nor was the letter widely reviewed or approved by the NSBA board of directors or members.
“We have been intently waiting for the release of this independent investigation for nearly two months,” said Dan Troxell, executive director of TASB. “With this report now available, it’s clear that NSBA’s internal processes and controls do not meet the good governance practices that TASB expects and requires in a member organization.”
He added, “Our decision to end our membership in the NSBA will not impact TASB’s work to ensure Texas public education has a strong voice and presence in Washington, D.C.”
Texas joins 20 other states whose school board associations had already withdrawn from the NSBA in the aftermath of the letter to President Biden. The exit of so many associations from the NSBA has already caused the organization serious financial difficulties.
