School fights light organizing flame for Virginia Republicans ahead of November election

[Valin]

The Washington Examiner

Emily Brooks, Political Reporter

September 12, 2021

Overlapping issues of the coronavirus pandemic, race-conscious teachings dubbed “critical race theory,” and transgender accommodations have created a potent political brew energizing Virginia Republicans ahead of this year’s marquee state elections.

Fueled by viral speeches and clashes at Loudoun County School Board meetings, activists and political figures gathered for a show of force on Wednesday aimed at organizing voters.

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Winsome Sears, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, rattled off statistics showing abysmal literacy rates in schools.

“The school to prison pipeline has started. Don't listen to me; that's what the state NAACP has sent letters to certain superintendents to say this diversity stuff is not working,” Sears told the crowd. “It's a problem. So if you have a problem with me being a black Republican, you've got a problem.”

At the end of the event, a number of state Republican candidates signed a “1776 pledge” to restore “education that cultivates in our children a profound love for our country,” promotes “curriculum that teaches that all children are created equal,” prohibit curriculum that “pits students against one another on the basis of race or sex,” and prevents schools from requiring students to protest or lobby.