Glenn Youngkin, Virginia’s Governor-Elect announced on Thursday that he and his upcoming administration have a “big agenda” for Virginia schools.
Speaking with Fox Business, Youngkin said “Virginia has had a very, very poor record in charter schools in providing any choice within our public school system. So we’re going to launch right out of the box 20 charter schools that are going to provide parents choice within the public school system.”
Youngkin went on to say, “Our curriculum is going to be absolutely focused on making sure we’re getting the political rhetoric out of the classroom, and really focused on how to prepare our kids to how to think as opposed to what to think—so much of this is engaging with parents.”
The issue of school curriculums, as well as parents’ roles in their children’s education, became a hot-button issue during the recent gubernatorial election. Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe doubled down on believing parents should not have a say in what their children learn in government-run schools.
Youngkin’s candidacy was in direct opposition to that of the McAuliff campaign, saying “parents are absolutely angry about what’s happening in the public school systems.”
Youngkin has also announced that he will be banning the controversial Critical Race Theory (CRT), which experts have noted is an underlying Marxist ideology that influences other parts of public school curricula.
Youngkin went on to say, “We’re going to launch a task force in December. I will have named a new secretary of education and a new state superintendent of our schools by then, and we’re going to begin to engage with parents, we’re gonna engage with educators, administrators, and students.” Younkin also said, “Jan. 15 can’t come fast enough.”
