Public school enrollment in Fairfax County, one of the wealthiest in the country, continues to drop, even though schools have returned to in-person learning full-time. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is rapidly losing support, especially among voters with K-12 children. And that's because concerns about public education and the backlash against leftist efforts to keep parents out of it are organic, no matter how much Democrats would like them not to be.
Fairfax officials reported a total of 178,595 students in classes on Sept. 30, well below the 189,010 students who attended class during the 2019-20 school year before the pandemic. Some of this was to be expected, as Fairfax took off a year of in-person learning. But enrollment has not picked up since the return to the classroom, and it shows no sign of doing so. This means that a large number of Fairfax parents have finally realized that their children are better off in a private or charter school or at home.
These parents are right. Fairfax County is one of several in the state to incorporate critical race theory (or closely associated tenets) into its schools. Officials announced they would revamp the county's history curriculum to include teaching that "the U.S. was founded on protecting the interests of white, Christian men who owned property." They also rolled out an initiative called "One Fairfax" that emphasizes "equity." As part of this initiative, a Virginia elementary school shared on its website a radical video titled "Woke Kindergarten 60 Second Texts: Safe" that suggested police are dangerous to be around.
Parents don't want their children exposed to this kind of toxic racialism. So they are doing the only things they can do: They are pulling their children out of an education system that wants to indoctrinate them, and they're voting against a candidate who would take away their right to do so. Take, for example, the latest poll showing yet another drop in support for McAuliffe, who supports CRT and opposes parental rights to have a say in public schools' curricula. While McAuliffe and his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, are still tied at 48% support overall, McAuliffe only has 39% of the vote among parents of K-12 students. Youngkin has 56%.
This is bigger than just one political campaign. Backlash against the leftist education agenda is growing — not because these parents watch too much Fox News, but because they see what the public school system is doing to their children and they want out. These parents are becoming their own movement, and Democrats are beginning to see that as the threat it is. Just look at former President Barack Obama's reaction to McAuliffe's sinking numbers:
"We don't have time to be wasted on these phony trumped-up culture wars, this fake outrage, the right-wing media's pedals to juice their ratings. And the fact that [Youngkin is] willing to go along with it instead of talking about serious problems that actually affect serious people? That's a shame. That's not what this election's about," he said at a Saturday rally.
Actually, that's exactly what this election is about. It's about parental rights and the Left's attempt to hijack the education system. That's why McAuliffe's campaign is flopping, Fairfax County's enrollment numbers are dropping, and Democrats are scrambling to put up a last-minute defense. But it's too late. Virginia's parents have found their voice, and, finally, it seems they're not afraid to use it.
Doesn’t matter. Dominion will see to that. I’m guessing their systems are still being used?