Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: The guidance document "Model Policies Concerning Instructional Materials with Sexually Explicit Content" was developed in conjunction with stakeholders in order to comply with SB656 (2022).
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8/3/22  2:52 pm
Commenter: Virginia mom of two

Strongly OPPOSE
 

The framing of this as protecting parents' rights is misleading. It doesn't protect my rights to expect public schools in which I trust professional educators to use their judgement to use appropriate material. It doesn't protect my rights to expect public schools without implicit (indeed, explicit) bias against children and their families who don't align neatly with certain religious beliefs. It doesn't protect my rights to expect that all kids, including mine, will be supported and protected from sigmatization. It doesn't protect my right to expect a public school system that educates based on facts, reality, and accepted standards of education rather than naive and/or religious sensibilities and fear mongering. Parents who want such an approach have many private schools to choose from. Public schools should serve all, and educate from a place of knowledge and expertise, not exclusion, fear, and religious bias. This model policy is vague in many ways, yet (or perhaps, therefore) the specific chilling effects are quite predictable if it is adopted. I oppose it. 

CommentID: 124833