Gov. Youngkin Reaffirms Commitment to Parental Rights!
Today, Governor Glenn Youngkin outlined his bold agenda for Virginia before a joint session of the General Assembly, which was greeted by a thundering applause from the majority of members and guests in attendance. Among those priorities included were:
Reducing the tax burden on working families by eliminating the grocery and gasoline taxes;
Respecting individual and parental rights, including removing the mask mandates for students and opposing a federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers;
Ending the teaching of divisive concepts, such as critical race theory, in public schools, while emphasizing higher standards of accreditation in core subjects like math, reading and history; and
Using the “business end of his veto pen,” he vowed to veto any legislation that would end Virginia’s so-called ‘right-to-work’ laws, which prohibit blanket union contracts.
The moment of Governor Youngkin’s speech that generated the most applause was when he reaffirmed his commitment to parents to protect their fundamental right, enshrined in Virginia law, to direct the education, well-being and care of their child. For over a year parents have flooded local school boards to express concerns and outrage over the sexually explicit materials being used in their child’s classrooms, rigid mask mandates, or their child being administered surveys and questionnaires without parental consent.
If you missed his speech today, you can listen to it HERE!
Not only has Governor Youngkin heard your concerns, but so have some members of the General Assembly. Here’s just a sampling of parental rights bills introduced this year that should encourage you, with more expected to be introduced in the coming days.
HB 789 (R – LaRock) – FLE Parental Permission - Prohibits any public school student from participating in any Family Life Education (i.e., Sex Education) program without the prior written consent of a parent. Under current law, the student automatically participates in Sex Education unless the parent chooses to opt their child out of such lessons.
HB 786 (R – LaRock), HB 1007 (R- P. Scott) and HB 1009 (R – Durrant) - Parental review of Instructional Material - Require the Board of Education to establish a policy, that each local school board must follow, requiring each public elementary or secondary school to (i) notify the parent when instructional material that includes sexually explicit content will be shared in class, (ii) permit a parent to review any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content, and (iii) provide alternative instructional material and related academic activities that are nonexplicit.
HB 1032 (R – LaRock) - Schoolbook Review Process - Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop and distribute to each local school board mandatory statewide standards for evaluating, classifying, and removing from any public elementary or secondary school library any explicit material, and establishes a processes for parental review of education materials and the review and approval of library books.
In addition to these bills aimed at providing parental review of sexually explicit materials, several other lawmakers have introduced other legislation to prohibit divisive concepts like Critical Race Theory in K-12 education, eliminating so-called “cultural competency” from teacher training, strengthen school incident reporting, and protecting the bodily privacy and safety of all students.
This will be a major year for families, especially the rights of parents, which appears to be a primary focus of Governor Youngkin’s agenda. Be sure to follow us this session to stay up to speed on all of the legislation pertaining to parental rights.
If you're ready to get involved, stay tuned for an announcement about a Parental Rights Advocacy Day!
