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RICHMOND, Virginia (LifeSiteNews) – The Virginia Department of Education is working to finalize model policies to ensure transparency for the sexual content of public school materials, a fulfillment of one of the causes that propelled Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to office.
As required by a law Youngkin signed in April, the model policies “establish clear procedures for schools to (i) identify all instructional materials with sexually explicit content, (ii) ensure parental notification of any instructional materials with sexually explicit content, (iii) permit parents to review all instructional materials with sexually explicit content, and (iv) ensure alternative instructional materials, that do not include sexually explicit content, are provided in a non-punitive manner for any student whose parent so requests.”
The Daily Caller reported that the Virginia chapter of the far-left American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claimed that mandating transparency for the content of government-funded instruction would “lead to classroom censorship.” But the issue is one the residents of Virginia demanded be addressed.
Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe last November in part by riding a wave of discontent with leftist radicalism in public schools, and upon taking office set to work addressing that discontent. On his first day, he issued a series of executive actions, including a ban on the promotion of critical race theory (CRT) in public schools and a request for an investigation of the Loudoun County School District over allegations it covered up student rape.
During the campaign, McAuliffe had set the tone of the pre-Youngkin status quo by declaring, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
In May, Virginia Beach circuit court Judge Pamela Bakersville deemed two LGBT books featuring graphic sexual content too “obscene for unrestricted viewing by minors” in Virginia public schools potentially as far as the Metro D.C. area, including Fairfax County.