'FACA You'

Biden administration runs afoul of federal law with creation of overtly partisan parent council; opts to dissolve council instead of add groups with different points of view

In June of this year, the Biden administration announced the creation of a ‘National Parents and Families Engagement Council’ to, in their words, “facilitate strong and effective relationships between schools and parents, families and caregivers.” The press release went on to say that “families’ voices play a critical role in how the nation’s children are recovering from the pandemic” and that the council would be “a channel for parents’ voices to be heard.”

So far so good.

I suspect that the creation of this parent council was, at least in part, driven by the huge spike in parent engagement, dissatisfaction and even uproar the past couple years. It seemed like a potential olive branch during a time of turmoil. But a quick skim of the list of the fourteen groups hand-picked to serve on the council revealed Democratic party donors and loyalists.

The hand-selected members of the Council included:

• Eleven organizations whose highest-ranking executive donated to President Biden and other Democratic lawmakers.

• The National Parents Union, whose president defended Attorney General Garland’s DOJ memo on school boards and came out in support of critical race theory in schools.

• The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) which endorsed Education Secretary Cardona.

• The National PTA whose former official has been nominated to a position in the Biden administration.

• The National Action Network, an organization run by Al Sharpton that promises “No Justice No Peace” and that hosted President Biden at its annual convention.

This ‘Parents and Families Engagement Council’ was revealed to be on shaky legal ground as soon as people familiar with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) saw the list of groups chosen. FACA requires the federal government to ensure its committees are balanced and free from inappropriate influence. It also requires the government to give adequate public notice of a committee’s activities. Three organizations, including Parents Defending Education where I work, sued the Biden Administration in July for failing to follow those requirements when it established the Council. 

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the following in the press release that announced the creation of the Parent Council:

Parents are a child’s first teachers, and there’s no one better equipped to work with schools and educators to identify what students need to recover.

One would have thought (assumed? hoped?) that Cardona, on behalf of the Biden administration, was talking about all parents and not just the ones who happen to cheerlead for them. Sadly, it appears that was not the case. The administration announced yesterday that it “has decided to not move forward with the National Parents and Families Engagement Council.”

Apparently, parents who have different and diverse points of view would be wayyyyyy worse than just scrapping the whole thing. Kind of feels like a big FACA YOU.

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On a much lighter note, did you guys know that Amazon offers “subscribe and save” for socks and underwear? I find this odd. Dog food, paper towels, toilet paper—that all makes sense. I have two big boxes of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish delivered every two weeks (it’s never enough!) But socks and underwear. Am I the only one who thinks this is funny and kind of weird? It’s like, “I’m gonna pass on the toothpaste subscription but the UNDERWEAR subscription? I’m so in.”

Talk soon,

Erika