Despite having no grasp whatsoever of the issue at hand, political leaders and activists made quite a stir over the recent decision to cut ties with the District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) executive board.

Thirty speakers, including City Councilwoman Mary McBride-Lee, former State Senator Ernie Newton and newly re-elected State Senator Edwin Gomes, spent nearly an hour shouting at BOE members.

Their claim: By cutting ties with the DPAC executive board – the very group that pushed out parents and took away the vote from School PAC (SPAC) presidents – the BOE is infringing on the executive board’s First Amendment Rights.

Does your head hurt? So does mine…

Somehow, former board member Maria Pereira was able to convince city leaders to ignore fact and reason entirely, conning them into believing her twisted version of events.

Several speakers accused the BOE of disbanding the DPAC executive board because they were outspoken critics of Mayor Bill Finch and BOE members allegedly aligned with him.

This allegation, of course, makes absolutely no sense.

Pereira and her buddy Tammy Boyle have repeated this baseless claim again and again— but where is their proof?

Did emails surface that point to some conspiracy? Or was Pereira privy to a secret conversation between BOE members and the Mayor?

Nope. We are all supposed to buy into this narrative because Pereira and her attorney say so.

That’s what was so sad about last night’s display. While politicians like Gomes came out to champion “freedom of speech,” what he is really supporting is a lawsuit that seeks to squash parent voices.

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