The National School Boards Action Center (NSBAC) is a policy advocacy organization promoting increased taxpayer funding for government education while opposing initiatives to expand school choice and foster the development of alternate education options such as charter and private schools. The NSBAC is the lobbying and activist arm of the National School Boards Association, the longtime representative association of state-level school board groups. ¹

“Homework Gap” Petition

National School Boards Action Center advocates for significant increases in government spending on broadband internet service. The organization has encouraged its supporters to sign a petition calling on elected officials to implement policies to reduce alleged disparities in internet access, which the NSBAC identifies as one of the primary causes of a so-called “homework gap” and the disparate educational outcomes to which this “gap” purportedly leads. ²

Education Surveys

In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, National School Boards Action Center conducted a nationwide survey to gauge attitudes towards education policy among likely voters. The organization cites the survey to claim that voters “strongly support” government education and oppose using taxpayer funds to help expand access to charter schools and other alternate education options. ³

NSBAC also published a survey in 2021 that claimed that “the top challenge…local public schools have faced” in the COVID-19 pandemic era “is students having quality broadband and internet access” to conduct virtual schooling. The group also claims that survey respondents support more funding for public schools, oppose government funding for private school choice, and that their distrust of “national and state-level elected officials” on education issues contrasts with their significant trust in local school boards. ⁴

2021 NSBA Controversy

In September 2021, the NSBAC’s parent organization, the National School Boards Association, sent a letter to the Biden administration in which it called on the Department of Justice to target parents protesting the perceived proliferation of far-left race indoctrination, gender ideology, and excessive COVID-19 restrictions in public school systems. The NSBA claimed that parent activists had committed “acts of malice” and “violence” against public officials, but did not cite any violent incidents beyond a few verbal altercations at school board meetings. ⁵

Following criticism from parent advocacy groups, lawmakers, state attorneys general, and even its own state affiliates, the NSBA issued an apology for the insinuations of violence in the letter. Numerous state school board associations issued statements disavowing or distancing themselves from the letter and the national organization, with some state-level associations disaffiliating from NSBA. ⁶

In October 2021, the Washington Examiner reported that the Biden Administration had coordinated with the NSBA on the release of the letter. The Examiner also reported that the White House appointed NSBA president Viola Garcia to the National Assessment Governing Board, an oversight entity within the Department of Education, several days after the letter was released. ⁷

Leadership

Lydia Tedone was chair of NSBAC’s board of directors as of 2021. ⁸ She held a school board position as a Republican in Simsbury, Connecticut from 1997 until 2021. ⁹ She lost her 2016 bid for the Connecticut House of Representatives, running as a Republican. ¹⁰

1. “National School Boards Action Center.” National School Boards Association. Accessed November 13, 2021.

   https://www.nsba.org/Advocacy/Take-Action/National-School-Boards-Action-Center

2. “Sign the Petition: Commit to Build the Connections and Close the Homework Gap.” National School Boards Action Center. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://p2a.co/oG3miw7
3. “National School Boards Action Center.” National School Boards Association. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.nsba.org/Advocacy/Take-Action/National-School-Boards-Action-Center
4. National School Boards Action Center 2021 survey.” National School Boards Action Center. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://nsba.org/-/media/NSBA/File/nsbac-poll–8-17-21.pdf
5. Mallory Simon. “School Board Group Asks for Federal Help to Stop Threats and Violence in Debates on COVID and Critical Race Theory.” Action News Now. October 1, 2021. Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/national/575429402.html
6. Bianca Quilantan. “School board group backtracks on letter for security help from DOJ.” Politico. October 25, 2021. Accessed November 13, 2021.

   https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-education/2021/10/25/school-board-group-backtracks-on-letter-for-security-help-from-doj-798428

7. Jeremiah Poff. “NSBA head got Biden administration role after calling parents ‘domestic terrorists.’” Washington Examiner. October 25, 2021. Accessed November 11, 2021. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nsba-head-got-biden-administration-role-after-calling-parents-domestic-terrorists/ar-AAPWEXL
8. National School Boards Action Center About page. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://nsbac.org/about/
9. “Meet the Candidates, 2021: Lydia Tedone,” Simsbury Community Television YouTube page. October 1, 2021. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFrFCTFvPeM
10. Lydia Tedone profile, Ballotpedia. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://ballotpedia.org/Lydia_Tedone