My principal told me this morning that "the board prefers that we don't speak to parents about the walkout"

So my school district is having a sickout on Friday, and most of my colleagues plan on participating in the walkout. I'm not sure I'm ready to take that step yet although the conditions for students and teachers are dismal. This morning during morning duties, I was chatting with my principal about the sickout and she said that she's not sure if she'll be there on Friday because the board prefers that we don't speak to parents about the walkout. I said "oh, so you guys are going to be hearing from parents who want to keep their kids home on Friday, and you won't know what to say?" She said yes, and I replied, "well, they are going to want to keep them home anyway because they won't have teachers."<br><br>Anyway, I was thinking that this is a horrible way to approach problems. The board wants to keep us from talking to parents, who are the ones who have the power to change things by voting for different board members or attending board meetings and being heard. How can we have a voice in what's going on with education when we're supposed to remain silent?