Chandler Unified Board Cuts Ties With National School Board Association

chandler bus

On Wednesday, the Chandler Unified School District voted to sever ties with the National School Board Association (NSBA). In the 3-1-1 vote, Board members denied a request to pay dues to the Association.

Board member Lara Bruner abstained, and Board member Lindsay Love was the lone vote in favor of spending the $8,620 in “National Connection Fees” with the controversial organization.

Board Chair Barb Mozdzen, Jason Olive, and Joel Wirth responded to the calls from parents across the country to reject association with the NSBA after it called on the Biden administration to treat parents who dare to speak out at school board meetings “domestic terrorists.

The NSBA sent a letter to President Joe Biden who then activated the Department of Justice against students, school board members and educators amid alleged threats made to districts in response to COVID-19 policies and mask mandates.

After Attorney General Merrick Garland testified in the U.S. Senate on the matter on Wednesday, House Judiciary Republicans launched a new investigation into the NSBA. The group is demanding that the Justice Department provide all documents and communications between the NSBA, the Biden White House, and Department of Justice by Nov. 10, 2021.

“I hope and pray for our children, parents and communities that this first small pebble starts an avalanche of AZ Governing Boards pulling out of NSBA AND ASBA,” former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas told the Arizona Daily Independent. “Neither one is doing our children or our families any service; they serve their own best interests and political agendas.”

The Chandler vote will put pressure on other Arizona districts to follow suit.

“Last night Chandler Unified School District stood by parents by rejecting the National School Board Association for their stance on law enforcement/FBI being used against student’s families,” education activists and mothers of Peoria Unified School District students, Heather Rooks and Devon Updegraff-Day, told the Arizona Daily Independent. “Peoria Unified School District has yet to comment or even acknowledge what the NSBA has done to parents across the country. If Peoria Unified School District truly supports concerned parents, they would have already broken ties with the NSBA. Will Peoria Unified School District stand with parents or do they believe what the National School Board Association stands for on labeling parents as domestic terrorists?”

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