Garland has a conflict of interest with Facebook

Attorney General Merrick Garland is under surveillance after a group of parents revealed his daughter was married to the co-founder of an education company funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who allegedly employs critical race theory in his work, according to a report.

The disclosure comes as the Attorney General on Monday announced that the FBI would help investigate a growing number of suspected threats against teachers and school board members in response to critical race theory being taught in schools – an action that critics have called a “declaration of war” on parents and the intimidation of political opponents.

Her daughter, Rebecca Garland, is married to Xan Tanner, co-founder of Panorama Education, a Boston-based company that collects social and emotional data from K-12 students, Fox News reported Wednesday.

Asra Nomani, vice president of investigation and strategy at Parents Defending Education, which opposes the Justice Department’s enforcement action, tweeted about the connection.

“Merrick Garland has declared war on parents”, Nomani posted Tuesday. “Her daughter is married to the co-founder of @PanoramaEd who is criticized for his multi-million contracts with school boards. At @DefendingEd, parents sent us tips. We sounded the alarm. Now Garland is trying to silence the parents.

“Panorama Education will take advantage of Garland’s outrageous silence on parents challenging his K-12 student data mining,” she wrote on the group’s website.

Nomani is linked to a 2018 New York Times article about Garland and Tanner’s daughter marriage.

She and her group argue that the Department of Justice compares parents who oppose “wakeful” policies such as critical race theory and compulsory mask wear to “domestic terrorism.”

It also comes as a whistleblower, Frances Haugen, testified Tuesday before a Senate committee about how Facebook routinely collects people’s information and then uses it to keep them engaged on the platforms it owns.

Nomani said it was “scandalous” that Fairfax County public schools “were collaborating with a for-profit company funded by Mark Zuckerberg.”

“In 2012, Zuckerberg admitted to doing studies of ’emotional manipulation’ on Facebook users without their consent or knowledge. His involvement today in surveys of student mental health is beyond pallor. Schools need to stop trying to manipulate students and instead focus on educating students, ”she told Fox News.

The Justice Department and Tanner did not respond to Fox News requests for comment.

Panorama Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.

The attorney general said on Monday that the FBI would help local law enforcement respond to what he called a “worrying spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school administrators, board members administration, teachers and staff “.

The action was in response to a letter from the National School Boards Association to the Biden administration which claimed that American public schools were threatened by people opposed to teaching critical race theory and mask mandates and declared that “heinous actions” should be considered a form of “domestic terrorism”.

Critics like Nomani fear Tanner’s company is using its ability to collect data to advance controversial ideas about race, identity and sexuality, Fox News reported.

His group, Parents Defending Education, noted that Panorama had secured a $ 1.8 million contract with Fairfax County Public Schools to track students’ social and emotional learning, according to the report.

The contract was increased to over $ 2 million early last month.

This was part of the school system’s overall investment of $ 78.8 million in coronavirus relief funds to create a “welcoming” and “culturally responsive” environment for students.

The money would be allocated to schools based on several factors and would be used to “directly support the socio-emotional needs of students”.

Parents Defending Education said the school district is allocating $ 23.3 million for Social and Emotional Learning Initiatives, or SEL.

Part of the program involves a SEL filter through Panorama Education, Fox News reported.

Critics believe phrases such as “social and emotional learning” and “culturally appropriate training” imply the introduction of controversial ideas about race and identity, according to the report.

The school system said it has a “legally binding contract” with Panorama on how information will be processed and stored.

“The data will only be used for FCPS service purposes and for educational purposes only. In addition, Panorama complies with all applicable federal laws, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, as well as state and local regulations regarding student data, ”said a spokesperson. word to Fox News.