The assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10 sent shockwaves through the country and exposed the raw danger of political violence on our campuses and streets. Kirk, a young father and outspoken conservative voice, was gunned down while speaking at Utah Valley University, and the nation rightly recoiled at the cowardly attack on free speech and life. This wasn’t a local incident to shrug off — it was an act that demands accountability from universities, law enforcement, and anyone who fans the flames of hate.
Instead of condemning that murder, Nancy Zettler, president of Illinois’ District 300 school board, publicly shared a post and wrote that her first thought was “karma, it’s a bitch,” a comment that reads like an endorsement of political violence. People elected to lead our children must show judgment and basic human decency; celebrating or trivializing an assassination disqualifies you from holding authority over schools. The screenshots spread fast, and conservative parents saw in her words something chilling: a public official who cannot separate partisan hatred from moral responsibility.
Local parents didn’t stand for it. Dozens gathered outside the District 300 administration building and packed board meetings demanding answers, resignation, or at the very least a public apology and accountability. This was not a fringe reaction — it was a community of taxpayers and moms and dads who expect school leaders to put kids above political spite. The organized pushback proves what grassroots conservatives have been saying for years: your school board matters, and who sits in those chairs determines what our children are taught and what values are modeled.
At the September meeting Zettler doubled down instead of showing remorse, calling the outrage a “manufactured disruption” from “phony” groups and refusing to apologize for her Facebook post. Her defiance — read aloud from a prepared statement — did nothing to calm parents; it amplified the sense that many school officials think they can act without consequence while lecturing the rest of us about tolerance. This is the same arrogance we see nationwide: elected officials who expect taxpayers to fund schools while treating those same taxpayers with contempt.
Worse, the meeting descended into chaos when Zettler twice threatened to shut the hearing down amid outbursts, a move that felt more like an attempt to silence scrutiny than preserve decorum. Parents who pay the bills and send their kids to those schools deserve to question board members, not be muzzled by them; a leader threatening to close public comment is revealing her true regard for public accountability. If district leadership is going to play political games, it should be clear that parents will not be intimidated into silence.
Even after the uproar, the board punted on immediate discipline: censure or removal from the presidency were floated as legal options but were not on the Sept. 23 agenda, leaving Zettler in place and the district in limbo. That slimy, bureaucratic shrug — “we’re still processing it” — is how scandals fester into accepted norms, and how left-leaning school officials keep their power while conservatives watch our schools drift. Communities have to insist on real consequences, not hollow statements promising future action while the person who celebrated murder keeps a seat at the table.
Let’s be clear: this is neither about personality nor petty revenge. It’s about the safety and moral fabric of our schools. When a school board president publicly applauds an assassination and then threatens those who ask simple questions, families should rise up and demand leaders who honor life, protect free speech, and teach children to resolve differences without hatred. We can’t outsource virtue to professionals who secretly despise the values held by the families who foot the bill.
If you care about your children’s education, now is not the time for calm complacency. Show up at meetings, vote in school board elections, and hold the line against officials who bring political malice into the places where our kids learn. This is about common decency, accountability, and the future of a country where differences are argued, not executed — and conservatives must lead that fight with clarity, courage, and conviction.
