Glenn Youngkin hosts a Parents Matter Conversation in Loudoun County with Juan Pablo Segura
"Children belong to the parents and not the state—and we know that."
That was the message Governor Glenn Youngkin delivered as he began his latest Parents Matter conversation this week in Leesburg, where he gathered with the community in Loudoun County to discuss his commitment to put parents back at the head of the table in their children's education and upbringing.
Youngkin was joined by Juan Pablo Segura, who is running to represent Loudoun County in Virginia's 31st Senate District.
The conversation in Leesburg centered around raising standards of excellence in Virginia schools, addressing mental health challenges facing students, keeping children safe online, and protecting young people from dangerous drugs like fentanyl.
Youngkin has held Parents Matter conversations across Virginia as he works to give parents more control over their children's curriculum, more transparency in the classroom, and more of a voice in Virginia's education policy.
Youngkin highlighted his latest effort to address learning loss in Virginia following school closures. He recently launched ALL in VA, a comprehensive plan to improve attendance, literacy, and learning with free tutoring for Virginia students.
Parents in attendance also discussed Youngkin's proposal to require parental approval for children under the age of 18 to access social media and which would prohibit social media companies from accessing a child's online data without parental consent. Democrats in control of the Virginia Senate blocked that legislation from moving forward.
With early voting starting on September 22 in Virginia, Youngkin encouraged everyone in attendance to vote early through Secure Your Vote Virginia and vote Republican in the upcoming General Assembly elections, noting that education and parental rights will once again be on the ballot as they were in 2021.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
THE DISPATCH: Youngkin the Education Reformer Rides Again
By David Drucker
September 13, 2023
LEESBURG, Virginia—Gov. Glenn Youngkin has returned to the campaign trail with an ambitious effort to lead a Republican takeover of the Virginia General Assembly... And he's focusing on an issue that carried him to an unlikely victory two years ago: education.
"Children belong to the parents and not the state—and we know that," Youngkin tells a cheering, standing room-only crowd of approximately 500 grassroots conservatives who gathered Tuesday to hear the governor's further plans for public education reform.
The comment comes during a signature, "Parents Matter" town hall meeting, one of half-dozen or so Youngkin has hosted across the commonwealth to boost Republicans running in targeted districts in the November 7 off-year legislative elections.
…
Youngkin vowed reforms to address learning loss, mental health, and other challenges for students sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.
But above all, he promised parents they had the final say in their children's education, not teachers and school administrators.
...
Here in a church auditorium in Leesburg, a tony exurb outside Washington, the governor listens patiently and takes notes by hand to add to his priority list as several parents rise to voice concerns about their children's public schools.
What else is on the governor's checklist if he can neutralize Democratic opposition in Richmond?
"There are a lot of things that I believe that we need to do," Youngkin tells reporters in response to a question from The Dispatch. "I want to make sure that social media companies can't open accounts and bundle our kids' data. I want to make sure that someone who sells drugs and someone dies is convicted, or at least charged with a felony homicide. And I finally want to make sure … that in fact Virginians have a chance to make decisions for Virginia."
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