I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools
At a time when all efforts should be focused on returning students to in-person instruction, amidst a student population struggling academically, it is illogical and maddening to see the Virginia Department of Education continue to prioritize social engineering indoctrination over providing quality academic instruction.
As a resident of Loudoun County, from the diverse classroom libraries debacle to the scandal of promotion of Critical Race Theory to this most recent transgender fiasco, this school system seems hell-bent on implementing progressive policies, which undermine parental rights and the family, and promise to produce an ill-equipped generation, characterized by division, confusion and frustration.
Additionally, requiring untruthful pronoun usage by teachers is a compelled speech violation, and demanding that students participate in such a lie violates their right to free speech as well.
President Reagan warned of those forces that would weaken or destroy the family, whether from external totalitarian societies that see in the family a natural enemy, or domestic forces within America that erode the stability of the family. This is what we are witnessing.
This policy would be in keeping with and a furtherance of LCPS’s societal assault, as it fails to realize that “progress” does not always progress toward the good (sadly, quite often the contrary), particularly when it latches on to the latest cultural whim or dictate.
Continuation down this path of social engineering at the expense of core mission will lead to end of the public school system as we know it, as more families will be forced to opt for homeschooling, private or charter schools, recognizing that through laws and coercion the education of America's youth is being taken out of parent's hands and placed in the hands of secular educators.
Virginia should lead the way in abandoning these "fool's errands" and return to building a school system whose academics are the highest priority.
These efforts go far beyond existing rules already in place to ensure all students are educated in an atmosphere of tolerance to mandated advocacy, where majority students are required to keep up with the ever-changing expectations of the cultural progressives, and memorize what is appropriate or inappropriate—depending on the latest determinations of groups that perceive themselves as beleaguered.
Please return to the basics...
Respectfully,
Kent Husted