Governor Abigail Spanberger is considering a bill that could place new limitations on what teachers in public schools can say about the 2021 riot at the United States Capitol.
January 6th, 2021 was not a peaceful day at the Capitol, and efforts to rewrite the history of the riot as a "day of love" are concerning to Delegate Dan Helmer, a Democrat from Fairfax County. That's why he introduced a bill that puts restrictions on what teachers can say about it in public schools.
"The curriculum and instruction materials can't say it was a peaceful protest. It can't say that there was extensive election fraud that would have overturned the election. And it does have to reflect that it was an unprecedented and violent attack on the United States," Helmer says. "This is not partisan. These are just facts."
Republicans voted against the bill, but critics also include advocates for free speech who oppose banning books.
"You can't restrict instruction in state law without it being censorship."
That's Laura Benitez at Pen America, who says the bill is a gag order.
"When you have the state legislature come in and say you can't talk about this specific idea in a specific way or maybe not at all, the chilling effect really goes beyond even just that one idea. There is this fear that you are going to violate state law, and that's not something that teachers are going to take lightly."
She says Governor Abigail Spanberger should veto the bill.
