PURVES: Return the Surplus, Don’t Reward Failed Schools
Virginia ended Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 with a record-breaking budget surplus of $2.6 billion. (Virginia’s budget year, or fiscal year, is from July 1 to June 30.) Virginia Governor Ralph Northam stated that the surplus was due to Virginia’s great business climate, pointing out that CNBC ranked Virginia as the #1 state for being business friendly. Not everyone agrees with CNBC. The Virginia Industry Foundation last November ranked Virginia as #11.
1776 UNITES: Open Letter to School Boards
The prevailing narrative of racial grievance has been corrupting the instruction of American history and the humanities for many decades, but has accelerated dangerously over the past year. The most damaging effects of such instruction fall on lower income minority children, who are implicitly told that they are helpless victims with no power or agency to shape their own futures.
LISTEN: Julie Perry on WMAL
Julie Perry, Virginia’s 86th District GOP nominee for House of Delegates, joined WMAL’s Larry O’Connor for a live interview Tuesday morning. Perry, a Fairfax County Public Schools educator, discussed the district’s regrettable embrace of critical race theory.
According to Perry, rank-and-file educators are not driving the new, Marxist-inspired push in district schools. “Teachers are afraid to speak out,” the candidate said. “They are terrified of retaliation.”
“Let Them Die,” Leete Said. Fairfax Dems Applauded.
Outside last week’s meeting of the Fairfax County School Board, two rallies were held. One consisted of parents opposed to critical race theory (CRT). The other represented a very different, “woke” point of view. The “woke” rally featured a speaker named Michelle Leete, who fulminated against those who disagreed with her revolutionary worldview: “Let them die. Don’t let these uncomfortable people deter us from our bold march forward.”
New Coalition Launches: “Educators for Youngkin”
Political outsider, successful business leader, and Republican nominee for governor Glenn Youngkin announced today the launch of “Educators for Youngkin,” a coalition of teachers, parents, educators, and community members across Virginia that are committed to restoring excellence in education. Glenn Youngkin and the Educators for Youngkin Coalition will work to fix standards and underperformance in all Virginia schools.
Yes, Virginia, There Is Critical Race Theory in Our Schools
School districts across Virginia have been expending resources, directing staff time, and hiring consultants to address “equity” in curriculum delivery and for professional development of teachers and other employees. Fairfax and Loudoun County, the two largest counties in the Commonwealth, have set the lead in driving the changes in education and embracing critical race theory and “anti-bias” in their respective divisions.
Abrar Omeish and the Left’s War on Individualism
Every year, high school and college graduating classes sit down and listen to a commencement speech. A top student, an influential figure, or a faculty member will deliver the typical tropes on conquering fears, realizing dreams, and never giving up. It might be full of clichés, but this encouragement has been the go-to oration for a reason. In recent years, these addresses have turned into soapboxes, as leftists spout political rhetoric and inform the students how the world is a terrible place.
VIDEO: Omeish’s Divisive, Far-Left Commencement Address
Embattled school board member Abrar Omeish has again made national and even global headlines — this time for highly divisive, far-left rhetoric during Justice High School’s June 7 graduation ceremony.
“We struggle with human greed, racism, extreme versions of individualism and capitalism, white supremacy, growing wealth gaps, disease, climate crisis, extreme poverty amidst luxury and waste right next door,” Omeish told graduates.
TAKE ACTION: Stop Critical Race Theory in Fairfax Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand shocked local parents and community members by sending out a biased and unscientific sham of a survey, stating that he plans to issue a new “Anti-Racism, Anti-Bias Curriculum Policy” and revise the “Controversial Issues Policy” that makes certain that teachers are fair and impartial when they discuss controversial issues in the classroom.
A Veteran’s Thoughts on Memorial Day, 2021
Though small in size, the American Legion grotto outside McLean High School spans the globe by virtue of five stone plaques which commemorate graduates “Who Have Given Their Lives in the Line of Duty for Our Country” in the War on Terror, the Vietnam War, the Korean Conflict, and World War II.