Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin holds ‘Back to School’ rally, says fight is not over

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin hosted a “Back to School” rally Wednesday, where he commended parents for fighting back against school districts’ draconian policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The rally was held in Mason District Park in Annandale, Virginia, to celebrate the start of the 2022-23 school year. 

After talks from Republican congressional candidates and Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, Youngkin appeared on stage, speaking in front of a group of kids.

“Last year, we saw radical politicians say that parents had no right to determine what was being taught in their children’s classroom. Well, all of you, and many, many, many others across the Commonwealth of Virginia stood up and said, ‘Enough.’ You stood together,” Youngkin said. “You stood together because we all recognized the core truth in our children’s education, parents matter. That’s what we concluded.

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Youngkin recounted some of his legislative achievements, such as Senate Bill 656, which stated that if school materials are sexually explicit and parents don’t agree with them, they can request an alternative set of materials. 

He cautioned though that, despite some progress, the fight against school boards and teachers unions was not over. 

“They think that parents have no right to know what your child is discussing with their teacher, or their counselor, particularly when some of the most important topics, most important topics that a child may want to discuss, are being determined. What’s their name? What pronoun will they use? How are they going to express their gender?” Youngkin said before closing the rally. 

The rally comes on the heels of multiple controversies in Virginia public schools. Earlier this year, a Loudoun County teenager was found guilty of sexual assault at two separate high schools. 

And last month it was revealed that Fairfax County Public Schools had employed a convicted sex offender for months before he was fired. 

Youngkin made education a cornerstone of his gubernatorial campaign. After his victory against Democratic opponent and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in November, Youngkin said his campaign became a “movement led by parents.” 

“[W]hen [parents] heard Terry McAuliffe say … that parents don’t have a role in their kids’ education … this ceased to be a campaign, and it started to be a movement led by parents,” he said. “And while the kitchen table issues that are so important to all Virginians – low taxes and safe communities and great jobs – continued to be very much front and center, education really did become the top issue in this election.”

Fox News’ Graham Colton contributed to this report.