The National School Boards Association finally sent a letter to its members Friday apologizing for its infamous letter sent to the Biden administration last month in which it called for action against protesting parents it labeled “domestic terrorists.” That letter was used by the Biden administration to justify Attorney General Merrick Garland’s creation of an FBI task force supposedly designed to address violent threats made against school officials.

“On behalf of NSBA, we regret and apologize for the letter,” the NSBA wrote. “There was no justification for some of the language included in the letter.” However, the NSBA did not call for the Biden administration to reverse course on the Justice Department’s action to create the FBI task force. In other words, the apology letter ended up as little more than a We’re sorry you were offended non-apology. The NSBA adds, “We should have had a better process in place to allow for consultation on a communication of this significance.” That’s putting it mildly.

The timing of this letter appears to be significant and very political. Virginia’s Loudoun County has been at the center of the national debate over education, but also of the Virginia gubernatorial race, which has entered its final week with Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin having entirely closed the gap with Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Youngkin has made up ground by pounding McAuliffe over his comments dismissing parents’ rights to have a say in what their children are taught. Youngkin has to great effect championed parents’ rights against those of teachers unions and the leftist agenda of the political elites.

Furthermore, the NSBA’s apology also appears to be aimed at shoring up eroding national support, as nearly 20 state school boards are moving to cut ties with the national organization. However, on this count the apology may come a little too late and doesn’t go far enough. One mother and member of nonprofit organization Moms for Liberty called the apology “phony.” “If they were really sorry about what was happening to parents and calling us domestic terrorists they would have investigated and questioned these school boards to see if there was any validity to any of what parents are actually saying,” Quisha King contended. “There is no excuse for their dereliction of duty. They are supposed to be supporting parents.”

Finally, the NSBA reportedly may have communicated with Joe Biden’s White House prior to sending the infamous “domestic terrorists” letter. Did the White House collude with the NSBA on forming a narrative and then use it to pressure the DOJ into creating an FBI task force with the aim of silencing parents protesting school mask mandates and radical leftist indoctrination in schools?

In his testimony on Capitol Hill last Thursday, Garland denied that he had any communication with the White House prior to his creation of the task force. Following his testimony, several members of the Commission on Civil Rights requested that he send them “specific examples [of] harassment, intimidation and threats of violence” that he alluded to as justification for his decision to creation of the FBI task force. Might the NSBA apology also be intended as a means to take the heat off Garland?