It’s crazy that some people think that parents should have no, or limited, say in what their kids are learning in school.
In his State of the Commonwealth address on Wednesday, Virginia Governor Youngkin (R) reaffirmed his commitment to parents and students and their interconnectedness in the classroom.
Youngkin insisted that in his position so far he and his team have “empowered parents” to make the decisions that they individually need for their children to succeed in classrooms. He said it is for parents to decide on a variety of issues, such as wearing masks in school.
“Virginia’s children suffered the largest decline of any state in the country for fourth grade literacy and tied for the largest decline in fourth grade math, he said.
“When it comes to what’s truly at the heart of our Commonwealth’s future, our children, we know that we have real work to do," because of "misguided decisions" the state made during the pandemic.
Addressing critical race theory, Youngkin suggested that we “must” teach school kids about all of our history, not cherry pick certain stories in order to cater to an agenda and paint a picture of our nation different than that of reality.
This comes at a pivotal moment: there's a battle between parents and taxpayers who demand school transparency and traditional academic instruction, and unions, bureaucrats and activists intent on using public schools to indoctrinate kids.
“Parents matter," Youngkin said, "and we must protect their fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education and care of their children.”
In September, the governor revised Virginia’s Model Policy to ensure that parents are informed if their children are attempting to identify as a gender that differs from their sex. Earlier this month on Fox News Youngkin expressed his shock that students in Fairfax County were not told about merit awards to spare the feelings of others. Immediately after he entered office a year ago, he signed an executive order that gave parents the right to decide whether or not their kids wore masks to school.
Many would argue Youngkin owes his election in part to his support for parents. During a debate, Democratic opponent and former Governor Terry McAuliffe, said: “I don’t believe parents should be telling schools what they should be teaching.”
