Upon receipt of a copy of Boyd's letter, NANS immediately wrote to Boyd sending copies of the letter to President Bush, Attorney General Ashcroft, Congressman Baker and many others.

Current reports indicate that Boyd did then meet with parties to the suit and appeared to be very cooperative.

The text of the NANS letter follows:

Dear Mr. Boyd:

      We are in receipt of a copy of your correspondence to Lucian A. Mascarella of East Baton Rouge LA. While Mr. Mascarella did not seek our response to the letter he shared with us, as a national organization we are obligated to respond on behalf not only of the citizens of Baton Rouge, but of the entire nation.

      Quite frankly we are appalled by apparent inaccuracies in your description of the current situation there, by the apparent support of practices still being demanded, and by comments that give respect to judicial rule while ignoring the importance of the fact that our government is ultimately by the people and by consent of the people.

      Are we to assume that your answer to Mr. Mascarella was constructed without benefit of adequate research into the situation? Are we to assume that the position evident in your letter is an announcement of the current administration's position?

      The Supreme Court has made it clear in cases they have heard that districts are not obligated to correct de facto segregation; and in their allowing to stand recent lower court rulings, the Court has clearly sent the message that use of racial/ethnic factors in school assignment to achieve prescribed levels (quotas) of diversity (racial balance) is unconstitutional.

      The Supreme Court has also made it clear that districts should be returned to local control as soon as possible.

      We are encouraged by these rulings which show a respect for our Constitution and the citizens of our nation, making your defense of the justice department position in the East Baton Rouge case more appalling.

      East Baton Rouge has been denied local control of their schools for nearly half a century even though purposeful segregation has long been ended.

      The East Baton Rouge district is being required to racially manipulate students in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by use of enrollment caps and limits. Further such manipulation is a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which, passed by Congress as representatives of the people, clearly defines desegregation as assignment to schools and within such schools without regard to race.

      The Justice Department should be protecting the civil rights of the people and the Constitution of our nation, instead of not only allowing, but demanding violation of our civil rights and our Constitution.

      Additionally, we believe your answer to Mr. Mascarella is based on faulty and incomplete information as regards the current situation.

      The district has done all that is practicable to make the magnet schools succeed as the so-called "desegregation" (racial balancing) tool for which they were designed. We understand there has been over $10 million extra spent on "magnet" schools from 1997 until now. The district has advertised them in every imaginable way, held recruitment drives in shopping malls, etc.

      As for failure to eliminate temporary buildings, these temporary buildings were permitted by Judge Parker until new buildings were completed. The board has already reduced these temporary buildings by about a third, and more will be eliminated as construction is completed.

      Further, the board is enforcing enrollment limits, albeit in violation of the Consent Decree, because of Judge Parker's demands.

      You close your letter to Mr. Mascarella by telling him that his "comments...are appreciated" and that he should not hesitate to contact the department if it can be of assistance in other matters.

      We think it should be quite obvious that Mr. Mascarella was not "commenting" on desegregation in Baton Rouge. He was seeking assistance in bringing an immediate end to the unconstitutional practice that has no place in our nation, a practice which has devastated hundreds of American school districts and which continues to devastate the East Baton Rouge district to the detriment of all students, and probably the most detriment to African-American students whom the social engineering practice was supposedly designed to benefit.

      Under a new administration we had certainly hoped for a speedy turnaround in the courts and the justice department for the sake of our nation's children and for our nation itself. We can never be "one nation, under God, with freedom and justice for all" so long as we allow our citizens to be manipulated by race and national origin or socioeconomic status.

      We suggest that your assistance would be beneficial to East Baton Rouge and to the nation as a whole if you were to work with Mr. Mascarella and others in East Baton Rouge who seek an end to the unconstitutional practices demanded by the justice department, citizens who have within the past month even been denied their day in court in a challenge to the violation of the Consent Decree.

      We do not seek an explanation of, nor an "education" in, the justice department's current position, and we are sure Mr. Mascalella did not seek such. We are already much too familiar with such explanations.

      We seek a correction.

      We hope to hear from you at the earliest possible time in light of your further research into the situation.