The deafening silence of Abigail Spanberger during her debate with Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R-VA) should awaken every parent in Virginia.
As a Fairfax County father of seven, I remember exactly what it felt like when parents’ voices were silenced under the reign of the Democrats. During former Gov. Ralph Northam’s tenure, Virginia’s public schools spiraled. Classrooms replaced learning with indoctrination, and parents were told to sit down and shut up. Ultimately, I pulled my own children out of the public school system due to the radical curricula sweeping the classrooms.
Like so many families in America, I lost faith that schools were going to respect parents and put education over ideology.
VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS WANT TO BRING RADICALISM BACK TO THE COMMONWEALTH
Then came the moment that changed everything. In a now-infamous debate moment, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe commented that “parents shouldn’t be telling schools what to teach.” That single line ignited a sleeping giant among parents in the once-Democratic stronghold of Virginia. It was the movement that delivered Glenn Youngkin the governorship and restored parents to their rightful place at the head of their children’s education.
Since then, Virginia has experienced a powerful transformation, and parents have been put back in the educational driver’s seat.
Under Youngkin, a Republican, Virginia students are climbing back up national rankings after years of decline. Test scores are up, chronic absenteeism is down, and transparency is back.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer. Under Democratic leadership, Virginia schools were failing both children and families. Under Youngkin, they’re beginning to thrive.
Now, Virginians face another choice: continue this progress, or return to the same disastrous policies that silenced parents, sexualized classrooms, welcomed boys in girls’ locker rooms, and radicalized children’s curriculum.
And last week’s gubernatorial debate was another defining event.
When pressed about important questions that deserve honest answers, Spanberger looked like a deer in the headlights. When asked about her party’s attorney general nominee Jay Jones’s appalling text messages (“joking” about the hypothetical killing of a Republican lawmaker and that lawmaker’s children), Spanberger was mute. When asked if boys should be allowed in girls’ bathrooms, Spanberger spewed a classic nonanswer word salad that would make even Kamala Harris blush.
As the saying goes, it was déjà vu all over again.
It was the same dishonesty and smugness that parents saw right through in 2021. The same refusal to stand up for the basic common sense that Virginians are desperate to see restored.
In 2024, then-candidate Donald Trump won back the White House by championing basic, decent values that Virginians (and frankly, all Americans) are desperate to revive. I had the opportunity to visit Mar-a-Lago and show the president firsthand just how important family and parental rights issues are to voters. And in the final stretch of his campaign, Trump leaned into the culture war, cutting through the noise with a clear, sensible message that resonated across swing states like Virginia.
The governor’s race in the commonwealth is another defining moment.
SPANBERGER PRETENDS SHE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND TITLE IX
Spanberger’s silence on core questions that affect the lives of Virginia’s families should be disqualifying for all parents who care about their children’s future.
Virginians remember what it felt like to be ignored by our government. And this November, we’ll remind Democrats: Parents must always have a say in our children’s education.
Terry Schilling is a parental rights advocate and president of the American Principles Project.
