Conservative Political News
It has been evident for a long time that the Left only likes democracy if it wins. Proof of that mounts daily, and here is more: “Fairfax School Suspends Kids, Calls Police As System Defies Virginia Governor On Masks.”
Of course, the educrats believe themselves to be the real experts, so why obey rules they just know can’t be good?
CNN “Democracy in Peril” host Jim Acosta on Tuesday reacted to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) setting up a tip line for parents to report the teaching of “inherently divisive” rhetoric such as Critical Race Theory.
Acosta noted that the GOP had recently been engaging in a culture war, which he warned “could be weakening our democracy.” He argued Youngkin went from “campaigning in a fleece vest” to running “a Soviet-style police state.”
“The new culture wars are impacting our laws, and some experts fear they could be weakening our democracy just as badly as the ‘Big Lie,’” Acosta proclaimed.
“You know, I seem to remember Glenn Youngkin campaigning in a fleece vest in Virginia. He was running as a different kind of Republican. I was told there was going to be a vest — not a Soviet-style police state across the Potomac from Washington,” he added.
Guest Molly Jong-Fast claimed Youngkin has “really gone full Ron DeSantis right away.”
“And it’s not just Youngkin,” Acosta replied. “A recent report shows there are dozens of new proposals opening pathways to punish teachers teaching things that parents don’t like. Why doesn’t this upset the traditional conservative tenets of liberty, anti-censorship and freedom? I guess, you know, if you want to cancel your teacher, you just have to email the governor in Virginia and, I guess, rat them out in other ways in other states.”
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On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) reacted to the lawsuit filed by Virginia school boards against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) executive order lifting mask mandates in school by stating that those school boards “certainly stood by and stayed silent when the previous governor shut down our churches, shut down businesses, closed schools,” under broad executive power, but are now opposing Youngkin saying the governor can determine that “parents can make these decisions that are best for them.”
Miyares said, “[I]f you’re a parent and you want your child to have a mask for eight hours a day, that is absolutely your right. But the point of the executive order is recognize there are going to be other parents that come to a different conclusion. We’ve had parents of somebody who’s asthmatic who said this is really bothering my child’s asthma. I had another parent that came to me and said my middle school daughter went from being an all A student to, because of the glasses constantly fogging up, now being a mostly C student. So, this is about each individual parent reaching their own conclusion of what’s best for their child. That is in the code of Virginia that parents have a fundamental right to the education and upbringing of their child. But more than that, Martha, the governor has such broad executive power when there are these states of emergencies that these school boards certainly stood by and stayed silent when the previous governor shut down our churches, shut down businesses, closed schools, and mandated masks. All we’re saying is under the governor’s executive power that’s already there under the Virginia code, he also has the ability of determining that yes, parents can make these decisions that are best for them.”
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A Pennsylvania school board member, ostensibly disgruntled because parents are showing up at board meetings to voice concerns about education issues, penned an op-ed Sunday in which he responded, “I don’t work for you.”
Richard Robinson, a member of the York Suburban School Board, appears to long for the days when “nobody showed up” to school board meetings.
The “public comments” period of these meetings, he noted at the York Dispatch, once gave residents “the chance to vent their spleens about exorbitant taxes or demand subjects be taught properly the way they were during the most frigid period of the Cold War.”
These days, however, Robinson complained, “school boards are now the new battleground in the fight for America’s future”:
Some members of my community appear to interpret this part of board meetings as the occasion to tell board members why they have the collective intelligence of a village idiot and how the school district ought to be addressing real problems. When the board does not fall in line with each and every demand, we are accused of ignoring the thoughtful, unbiased, sincere and righteous ultimatums of our community.
Robinson said he preferred to write not as a “member of a school board,” but, instead, as a “member of my community who serves on a school board.” He responded to the concept that he works for the taxpayers of his community with the statement:
No, I don’t work for you. I was elected by people who voted to represent you. It is not the same thing. You may also be surprised to learn every member of a school board is a taxpayer, too. I come from a long line of taxpaying men and women.
Gov. @GlennYoungkin to Parents: “We Will Empower You in the Education of Your Children” pic.twitter.com/juNZ9TQUlr
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 15, 2022
Presenting a list of grievances in his opinion column, Robinson criticized “doctors” who offer public comments during school board meetings, but neglect to provide their credentials; parents who threaten school boards with lawsuits; parent “bullies” who threaten to remove their children from school if mask mandates are not ended; and parents who claim they know what is best for their child.
Robinson disagrees with these parents, asserting, “Nevertheless, if you are offended because I don’t believe parents are infallible, you can always sue or take your child out of school. Your choice.”
Finally, Robinson states the “most offensive and vile” of all individuals who comment at board meetings are “the charlatans who claim health and safety measures are responsible for destroying the mental health of children simply to justify their own social agenda.”
“There are members of this community who tried to draw attention to the warning signs of increasing mental distress among our children long before you ever thought of mental health as a potential cudgel,” he sneered. “To listen to your repeated distortions of the facts is nauseating.”
.@RonDeSantisFL: We Will Not Let Officials “Intimidate Parents” in Florida pic.twitter.com/mc2u4CD1Lr
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 3, 2021
“There is only one thing more to share with my fellow citizens who come out to say, ‘Be a trend setter, be a leader, be on the right side of history and do what I tell you to do!’” he wrote.
“No. I have watched live streams of board meetings numerous times and reviewed the written protests, repeatedly,” he said. “Your voice has been heard. As far as the right side of history is concerned — I like my odds.”
More bad news for Democrats. A supermajority of Americans believes parents should have the “final say” in the content of what their children are taught in public schools. https://t.co/foxLkMFaXT
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 26, 2021
Nicole Nelly, president of Parents Defending Education, told Fox News Digital Robinson was mocking parents.
“Far too many elected officials have shown over the past two years that the ‘consent of the governed’ is little more than an inconvenient speed bump on the road to advancing their unpopular agendas,” she said. “Mocking and dismissing the concerns of the community may be cathartic for petty dictators, but it is not a path to electoral success.”
Robinson’s op-ed is written days after newly inaugurated Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) told his state’s General Assembly parents “have a fundamental right” to decide their child’s “upbringing, education, and care.”
WATCH: Democrats refuse to applaud when @GovernorVA @GlennYoungkin tells parents they “have a fundamental right, enshrined in law by this General Assembly, to make decisions with regard to your child’s upbringing, education and care. And we will protect and reassert that right.” pic.twitter.com/TMTVLkI5U4
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) January 17, 2022
“And we will protect and reassert that right,” the governor added.
The superintendent of Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has directed principals in the district to suspend students who do not wear masks in school, according to a whistleblower report provided to Parents Defending Education (PDE).
Superintendent Scott Brabrand briefed school district principals Friday on the updated mask policy, which says, “Any student who refuses to wear a face covering while indoors on school property or during FCPS-provided transportation, and who is not otherwise exempt will be precluded access to face-to-face instructional programming until they comply with the requirements of this regulation.”
This comes only days after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) signed an executive order affording parents the right to choose whether or not to mask their children in public schools, which goes into effect Monday. Brabrand’s briefing slideshow shows direct defiance of Youngkin by announcing the continuation of a universal mask mandate six days after the governor’s executive order.
FCPS Face Mask Chronology shows direct, intentional defiance of Youngkin executive order. (FCPS / PDE)
Any student who does not wear a mask will be met promptly with a “1 day OSS,” or Out of School Suspension, for violating the district’s dress code.
FCPS mask suspension policy. (FCPS / PDE)
If a student wishes to appeal the suspension, the principal is left to determine if the return of the student to class would “pose a danger to persons or property” defined as a “potential increase in COVID transmission in schools … [and the] impact increased exposure could potentially have on the health and safety of other students and staff.”
The principal will also determine if the student poses an “ongoing threat of disruption of the school’s educational program,” which includes the possibility that “students, staff, and/or families could be fearful for their health and safety due to others not wearing required face masks.”
FCPS mask refusal and discipline. (FCPS / PDE)
Left out of FCPS’s mask discussion are the well-documented detrimental effects masking has on the social development and mental health of children, which has contributed to skyrocketing suicidal ideation, self-harm, depression, and anxiety among young people.
“Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand is turning school staff into the mask police and punishing children to win a public opinion battle in Virginia that was decided at the ballot box,” PDE Vice President for Strategy and Investigations said. “Parents elected Gov. Glenn Youngkin to office to win back parental rights over issues from what is taught in schools to whether a child wears a mask at school.”
Yougkin’s executive order allowing parents to opt out of masking their children is currently being challenged in court, and he remains confident the Commonwealth’s Supreme Court will “rule in favor of parents.” Until it is decided, however, and in the wake of defiant responses from Democrat-run school districts, the governor has told Virginia parents to “listen to their principal.”
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
