Vocal parents in Loudoun County — many of whom led the charge against Critical Race Theory (CRT) in public schools — are “thrilled” that Republican Glenn Youngkin beat Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s gubernatorial race.
Loudoun County swung for McAuliffe, despite parent pushback against the district’s progressive school board and superintendent. However, three “mama bears” told the Daily Caller that “divisive, propagandized, identity politics” led to McAuliffe’s statewide defeat as their public fight with Loudoun County made education a top priority among Virginian voters.
Rene Camp, a Loudoun County mother and voter with a child in a public high school, told the Daily Caller that children were the most important issue when casting her vote. She mentioned not only education issues, including the implementation of CRT pedagogy in the classroom, but drug trafficking over the southern border and vaccine mandates. The mother specifically mentioned her fear of fentanyl and losing the freedom of choice for her child.
While Loudoun County gained national media attention in the lead-up to the gubernatorial race, parents such as Camp began their fight against Loudoun County at the beginning of the pandemic when the district made classrooms virtual. Camp said that she started paying attention when she noticed her child wasn’t “learning correct history” and was seeing “pornography” in the school library.
Loudoun County mother Tiffany Polifko, who has children in elementary and middle school, similarly said that she got involved when her son received an “inappropriate” assignment in his seventh grade English class. According to Polifko, the assignment asked her child to “identify his privilege because he is white.”
“I want divisive, propagandized, identity politics ripped out of the classroom, root and stem,” Polifko told the Daily Caller. She believes other parents state-wide felt the same way, regardless of their race.
Polifko holds a role in the organization Parents Against Critical Theory (PACT), which rallied parents to school board meetings and brought to light some of the most radical policies within Loudoun County Public Schools, including the district’s cancelation of Dr. Seuss. (RELATED: Loudoun County Forces Parents To Sign NDA-Style From To View CRT-Inspired Curriculum)
PACT asserts that “well-informed” parents are a “nightmare” for school administrators, school boards, superintendents, and, now, for political candidates who view parental input as unnecessary.
In the waning days of the Virginia gubernatorial race, liberal analysts and Virginia Democrats planted staffers to — unsuccessfully — trick voters into thinking Youngkin had ties to the KKK. The group responsible for the stunt was a liberal organization that corporate media consider disaffected Republicans.
so it seems like the lincoln project were the group behind the tiki torch stunt in VA todat at the younkin event pic.twitter.com/aJvQ6a3mdY
— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 29, 2021
Mother Megan Rafalski told the Daily Caller that race-baiting politics is exactly what led Democrats to lose.
Rafalski said that young kids in Loudoun County don’t notice the racial composition of their peers like the teachers and administrators in school districts do. She worries that the race-based curriculum will further polarize naive children. Rafalski also said that she views Youngkin’s victory as a “referendum” on the Loudoun County school board.
“I don’t see how LCPS could sit back and not see this as a referendum on their performance,” Rafalski said.
Camp, a black woman herself, called on Democrats to find a new line of attack besides calling concerned parents “white supremacists.”
While many parents celebrate Youngkin’s victory, Camp cautioned that the fight against critical race theory is a “war” that must be won “one battle at a time.” These same parents are convinced that the fight against critical race theory and control over their child’s education will be a critical issue for candidates in the 2022 midterm elections and the 2024 presidential race.
“Onto the next fight,” Camp said.
