Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 19, 2023 / 13:50 pm
New education policies issued by the administration of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week affirm that parents in the state will enjoy broad oversight of their children while they are enrolled in public schools, with the state settling several key questions related to school policies regarding transgender-identifying students.
The new model policies released by the government say that education rules “shall be drafted to safeguard parents’ rights with respect to their child and to facilitate the exercise of those rights.”
Schools “shall respect parents’ values and beliefs,” the policy says, with parents permitted to “make the best decisions with respect to their children,” while schools will be required to “keep parents informed about their children’s well-being.”
The guidance, which is an update from a version released in September of last year, comes after several years of contentious debate in Virginia and other states over the extent to which education officials can implement transgender ideology within schools.