The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday it was disbanding it’s parent engagement council.

The National Parents and Families Engagement Council was created this year to “facilitate strong and effective relationships between schools and parents, families and caregivers.” It consisted of various parent, family or caregiver representatives from national organizations. Its creation came on the heels of heated exchanges between parents and school officials on the topics of curriculum and COVID-19 restrictions.

Since then, the council has been the target conservatives who have filed a lawsuit claiming that the council itself was not ideologically diverse enough to accurately represent all parents. Some critics have even gone as far as to call the assembly a group of “yes men.”

The Department of Education says that it will still converse with parents in different ways:

“The Department will continue connecting with individual parents and families across the country,” according to a released statement. “Including through townhalls, and providing parents and families with a wide array of tools and resources to use to support our students.”