Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, said “parents deserve to have the head seat at the table,” as he headlined a town hall on education, an issue that has resonated with Republican voters.
(Bloomberg) — Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, said “parents deserve to have the head seat at the table,” as he headlined a town hall on education, an issue that has resonated with Republican voters.
“There’s a basic rule here — children belong to parents, not to the state, not to schools, not to bureaucrats, but to parents,” Youngkin said on CNN on Thursday night.
Youngkin, a former co-chief executive officer of Carlyle Group Inc., and regarded as among the rising stars in the Republican party, appeared to enjoy discussing his favorite issue.
Education debates played a central role in his upset gubernatorial victory against former Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, in 2021. In that campaign, Youngkin touted his “parents’ choice” agenda as he sought to harness anger with local school boards over pandemic-related school closures, teachings about race, and the rights of transgender children.
Those issues have been embraced by other Republicans seizing on cultural and social issues, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to run in 2024.
Yet executing many of his positions in Virginia has proved to be difficult.
Just months after its release, Youngkin’s administration quietly rolled back an education “tip line” created to allow parents to report teachers for discussing “divisive” subjects in the classroom, seen by critics as an effort to restrict teaching about race. Civil rights groups have also questioned if an executive order rolling back accommodations for transgender students is enforceable.
Asked by an audience member about his administration’s transgender policies, “We just need extra bathrooms in schools, we need gender-neutral bathrooms so people can use a bathroom that they in fact are comfortable with,” Youngkin said. “I don’t think that biological boys should be playing sports with biological girls.”
The governor’s call to have Virginia’s education secretary review the College Board’s proposed Advanced Placement African American Studies course prompted criticism from opponents.
Recently, Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow resigned. Balow, a staunch opponent of critical race theory, sparked controversy — including over after changes she made to the state’s history curriculum that left out influential figures and events, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Juneteenth.
Youngkin, a political newcomer, earned a spot on many 2024 shortlists after winning in a state that has backed the Democratic candidate in the last four presidential elections. The governor has said publicly that he’s focused on Virginia, but has fueled speculation by traveling to states like Georgia, Kansas and Maine to stump for GOP gubernatorial candidates in last year’s elections.
He swatted down a question of whether he plans to enter the 2024 presidential race adding “I’m not writing a book,” distinguishing himself from DeSantis — who’s now on a book tour and is widely expected to announce a run for the Republican presidential nomination.
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