On the campaign trail, Republicans are hoping the issue of parents’ rights will help them win control of the Virginia General Assembly.
After former Governor Terry McAuliffe said parents should not be telling schools what they should teach back in 2021, Glenn Youngkin was able to turn parents’ rights into a winning message on the campaign trail. Now, Republicans are hoping the issue will resonate again this year. But, Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says that issue may have limited value.
"Polls consistently show that a lot of people are pretty happy with their local school districts, that they think that they're pretty well run," Farnsworth says. "And so, the loud school board hearings that you're seen around the Commonwealth, particularly in the outer ring suburban counties like Loudoun, are really reflective of those really motivated voters, people who will turn out anyway."
J. Miles Coleman at the University of Virginia says Republicans can use parents’ rights as an answer to the politics of abortion rights.
"OK, well, we're about choice when it comes to education," Coleman says. "So, I think that's maybe something I think of when it comes to one party trying to paint the other side as maybe too authoritarian."
Republicans are already using the issue of parents’ rights in three of the dozen races they’re targeting in the House, although the value of the issue on the campaign trail has yet to be determined.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
