Legislative Updates – Pray for America's Leaders

Legislative Updates

Virginia | October 13, 2021

The Patriot Act Wasn’t Meant to Target Parents

Virginia | October 13, 2021

The Biden administration is abusing federal laws and agencies as instruments of political repression.

As principal author of the Patriot Act and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during its consideration, I find it necessary to remind the Biden administration that the Patriot Act doesn’t apply to parents’ behavior at school-board meetings.

In recent months, parents across the country have expressed their views on issues ranging from pronoun selection and Critical Race Theory to the medical basis of certain Covid restrictions and age-inappropriate, sexually explicit curricular materials. Parents have a right—indeed an obligation—to participate actively at school-board meetings to ensure the safety and well-being of their children. In Virginia’s Loudoun and Fairfax counties, moms, dads, and teachers shocked by X-rated reading lists, race-based indoctrination, and anti-Christian instruction have made their voices heard. Rather than embracing a renaissance of spirited and nonviolent civic engagement, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe recently said: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Democrats’ hostility toward parents seeking a voice in their children’s education is not new. Of greater concern is the recent attempt to weaponize our criminal laws to eliminate these voices. As principal author of the Patriot Act and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during its consideration, I find it necessary to remind the Biden administration that the Patriot Act doesn’t apply to parents’ behavior at school-board meetings…. (Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal)

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Virginia | October 1, 2021

Rep. Bob Good Seeks to Defund Critical Race Theory in Public Schools

Virginia | October 1, 2021

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) introduced the Defending Students’ Civil Rights Act of 2021 to prohibit the indoctrination of racially divisive curriculum within our nation’s schools. Good’s bill would prohibit the use of Critical Race Theory or (CRT) critical race pedagogy in any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Any attempt to teach or implement critical race theory in federally funded institutions would be a violation of a student’s civil rights, punishable by law.

“Critical Race Theory teaches children that their level of success and achievements in life is determined by the color of their skin. It is morally bankrupt and historically incorrect curriculum. Sadly, more than 5,000 teachers across the United States have signed a petition committing to teach CRT whether it is against the law or not,” Rep. Good said.

“It is my responsibility to constituents, and our children, to hold our educators accountable for what they teach in our schools. As a member of the House Education and Labor Committee in Washington, I have witnessed the Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress adamantly trying to mandate the teaching of CRT ideology in schools, require mask wearing and vaccinations of students and employees, and force “woke” SOGI [Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity] policies upon our children.”… (Excerpts from the Daily Torch)

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Virginia | September 15, 2021

Loudoun County Public Schools attacked in new TV commercial

Virginia | September 15, 2021

The Free to Learn Coalition, an educational advocacy group, took aim at Loudoun County Public Schools in a new television ad that aired during the second half of the Washington Football Team’s Sunday afternoon game, taking issue with recent actions taken by the School Board.

A spokesperson told the Times-Mirror the ad is the latest installment in a multi-million-dollar effort launched in June which included an ad targeting Fairfax County public schools for pushing what the the group described as a political agenda.

“Whether it be targeted efforts to silence dissenting parents or the push to turn teachers into informants, the Loudoun County Public School system has prioritized political activism above all else,” said Alleigh Marré, president of The Free to Learn Coalition, in a prepared statement…. (Excerpts from the Loudoun Times)

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Virginia | August 12, 2021

Virginia schools should not conduct social experiments with our children

Virginia | August 12, 2021

Over the past year, perhaps no group has felt a greater impact from coronavirus lockdowns than our nation’s schoolchildren. In many ways, the widespread school shutdowns resembled a cruel social experiment with predictably disastrous results: plunging gradesrising mental health issues and, most distressingly, a surge in suicide attempts. But after the horror that was the 2020 to 2021 school year, a recent edict by the Virginia Department of Education promises to impose even more radical changes that could soon make the commonwealth’s public schools unrecognizable.

The deceptively titled “Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools” would put all “gender-based practices” in Virginia schools on the chopping block for the coming school year. For instance, schools would have to end gender-based homecoming prom courts and father-daughter dances. Districts would also assign overnight lodging for field trips based on students’ gender identity rather than on their biology. And, of course, students would have the right to use sex-segregated facilities such as bathrooms, locker rooms and showers based on their subjective gender identity.

Most disturbing, Virginia educrats appear to see no rational reason any parent or student would oppose these changes. The document defines the only recognized motivations for the opposition as “societal prejudice” or “lack of awareness or understanding.” That people might hold to biologically grounded genders receives not even a passing thought.

Of course, many parents do hold to this view and are deeply concerned by the proposed changes. Hundreds have packed into school board meetings across the commonwealth, such as in Loudoun County on Tuesday night, to register their opposition. Nevertheless, the Loudoun County School Board voted to reject those reasonable concerns, and other school boards that have sided with parents face the prospect of lawsuits for failing to go along with the program.

At the core, we should all have the same goal for students. As the edict rightly puts it: “Schools should provide a safe educational environment for all students and treat all students with dignity and respect.” On this, every parent and educator can surely agree…. (Excerpts from the Washington Post)

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Virginia | July 18, 2021

Virginia PTA Leader Ousted After Apparently Wishing Death on Anti-Critical Race Theory Parents

Virginia | July 18, 2021

A Virginia Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) official resigned after she was seen on video at a protest making incendiary remarks about parents who oppose critical race theory.

The PTA, in a statement over the weekend, said that the PTA’s “executive committee requested and received the resignation of Michelle Leete, who served as Vice President of Training.”

“The actions & rhetoric of Ms. Leete & all of the like-minded partisan supporters of the SB are deeply disappointing. It evinces a deep lack of concern for children & parents, particularly where the wellbeing of children & families clash with political considerations,” reads a tweet from the organization.

Leete was recorded at a counter-protest criticizing those who oppose critical race theory (CRT), an offshoot of the European Marxist school of critical theory, being taught inside classrooms….

(Excerpts from the Epoch Times)

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Virginia | July 13, 2021

Virginia PTA Tries To Disband Fairfax Chapter Because Its Leaders Oppose Critical Race Theory

Virginia | July 13, 2021

On June 6, parents of students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) elected a new executive board for the TJ Parent, Teacher, and Student Association (PTSA).

Four of these newly elected members — including the first black association president, Harry Jackson, Second Vice President Jun Wang, Treasurer Himanshu Verma, and Corresponding Secretary Hanning Chen — are members of the Coalition for TJ, a parents’ group that organized last year in opposition to the Fairfax County School Board’s plan to eliminate race-blind, merit-based admissions to the formerly elite public high school. They also oppose teaching critical race theory.

The Virginia education establishment decided they couldn’t abide parents opposing their ideological hobbyhorses, even if parents who elected a parent association board with an unprecedented level of racial representation. So they plan to dissolve the parents’ association and elect another. Understand, the newly elected board hasn’t even met yet….

(Excerpts from the Federalist)

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