Virginia General Assembly Continues to Debate Youngkin Critical Race Theory Ban

The General Assembly continues to debate Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order One banning Critical Race Theory and “inherently divisive concepts.” On Wednesday, legislators debated the policy in the House Education Committee, on the House floor, and on the Senate floor. The newly-Republican-controlled House of Delegates has been slow to hear bills in committee, which generated another House floor back-and-forth, but although key anti-CRT bills haven’t been heard in the Education Committee yet, delegates got a jump-start on debating the topic when interviewing Youngkin nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow.

Balow previously served as Wyoming’s superintendent of public instruction, where she supported anti-CRT legislation.

“I share Governor Youngkin’s priorities for education,” Balow said.

She said, “We will keep schools open five days a week for all students to ensure that schools are a safe place to thrive and to learn. We will remove divisive ideology and politics from the classroom, and not one of us disagrees that students need access to a comprehensive education about the history of our world, our country and the Commonwealth. The education must include our triumphs, our trials, our bloodshed, along with our victories, our progress, and our achievements, but it cannot be delivered in a way that tells students what to think. The teacher’s job is to tell students how to think.”… (Excerpts from the Virginia Star)