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NSBA's 'domestic terrorism' apology falls flat: 'These are parents, not terrorists,' Dr. Saphier says

'The Big Saturday Show' panelists defended school parents' activism, which was brandished 'domestic terrorism' by the NSBA

Graham Colton By Graham Colton Fox News
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'These are parents, not terrorists': Dr. Saphier Video

'These are parents, not terrorists': Dr. Saphier

'The Big Saturday Show' panelists sound the alarm on the National School Board Association's apology for its letter that compared parents to domestic terrorists.

"The Big Saturday Show" panelists responded Saturday to the National School Boards Association's apology for its Sept. 29 letter to President Joe Biden that labeled some concerned parents domestic terrorists.

The letter dubbed parental resistance to critical race theory and COVID restrictions "the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes."

NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION SORRY FOR 'LANGUAGE' IN LETTER THAT LIKENED PARENTS TO DOMESTIC TERRORISTS

"These are parents, not terrorists," Dr. Nicole Saphier said on "The Big Saturday Show." "All this did was exacerbate an already strained relationship between parents and educators, specifically the administrators."

David Webb argued that the apology was too little, too late. According to a recent Fox News poll, 73% of parents are "extremely or very concerned about what schools teach."

Fox News contributor Johnny "Joey" Jones could be among them.

"My kids deserve to be treated with respect and to not be told they're racist because of the color of their skin in school," he said.

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    FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Angry parents and community members protest after a Loudoun County School Board meeting was halted by the school board because the crowd refused to quiet down, in Ashburn, Virginia, June 22, 2021. Loudoun has been roiled for months by accusations that it has embraced critical race theory, a school of thought that maintains that racism is ingrained in U.S. law and institutions and that legacies of slavery and segregation have created an uneven playing field for Black Americans. The school system says it is simply training teachers, the majority of whom are white, to be "culturally responsive" to serve the county's increasingly diverse student population. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo/File Photo (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo)

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    Supporters of the academic doctrine known as Critical Race Theory and transgender students meet outside the Loudoun County School Board headquarters before a school board meeting, in Ashburn, Virginia, U.S. June 22, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

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    A woman sits with her sign during a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia on October 12, 2021. - Loudoun county school board meetings have become tense recently with parents clashing with board members over transgender issues, the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) and Covid-19 mandates. Recently tensions between groups of parents and the school board increased after parents say an allegedly transgender individual assaulted a girl at one of the schools. Earlier this month US Attorney General Merrick Garland directed federal authorities to hold strategy sessions in the next month with law enforcement to address the increasing threats targeting school board members, teachers and other employees in the nation's public schools. This in response to a request from the National School Boards Association asking US President Joe Biden for federal assistance to investigate and stop threats made over policies including mask mandates, likening the vitriol to a form of domestic terrorism. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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    Parents at the Loudoun County School Board meeting (Tyler O’Neil, Fox News)

Jones warned that the bogeyman-like specter of "domestic terrorism" "gives the federal government…the opportunity to invoke things…like the Patriot Act" and trample on parents' constitutional rights. He used the example of a parent "liking" a Facebook post or joining a certain Facebook group and then being investigated "under this guise" of domestic terrorism.

"I think as Americans, regardless of how you feel about the politics of critical race theory, this objectively is scary," he said.

In response to a Fox News poll showing that 63% of parents think that schools pushing a political plan is a "major problem" in schools, Webb urged concerned parents to become "more involved in their children's education." 

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"We've had a problem in this country where parents have sent their kids off for eight or so hours a day for the government to raise their children," he said. "That responsibility is yours. Once that child is out there in the world, until they are an adult, they are your responsibility. Stay involved."

Graham Colton is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to graham.colton@fox.com and on Twitter: @GrahamGColton.