Glenn Youngkin. Photo Credit: NBC News
by Dick Hall-Sizemore
Republicans, the advocates for smaller governor and for not having Richmond dictate to localities, seem to be running a would-be dictator for governor.
In Halifax County recently, Glenn Youngkin announced, “We will not teach Critical Race Theory in our schools” and, according to the South Boston News and Record, “on day one as governor, he vowed to launch 20 charter schools around the state to provide educational choice for families. He declared that Virginia’s schools will never close again, and will be open five days a week.”
At another forum in Stafford County, he called on all school districts to have a law enforcement officer in every school or lose state funding. “If you are a school board and you refuse to equip your schools with school resource officers to keep our children safe, you will need to find your funding for your school on your own.”
The last time I checked, the Virginia Constitution vests the supervision of schools in local school boards and state law sets out a procedure for establishing charter schools. The Constitution also requires the state to provide funding for “the cost of maintaining an educational program meeting the prescribed standards of quality.” Nothing any there about having to include police in school buildings.
Unless Mr. Youngkin has come up with a way of legally waiving the provisions of the state constitution and state law that he has not revealed, it seems that he intends to govern by fiat.
