Governor Glenn Youngkin joined Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream to discuss a top priority: making sure all Virginia students have access to quality education with parents at the head of the table.
"There is nothing more important than ensuring a quality education for our children. The future of Virginia, the future of America, will be built by them and they need to be prepared to take on the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that are ahead of them," Youngkin said.
Youngkin highlighted his efforts in Virginia to address learning loss, restore standards of excellence in school, and empower parents in their children's lives.
"We went to work right away. First, raising expectations. Second, empowering parents, making sure they're at the head of the table in their children's lives. And, finally, we have to combat this persistent learning loss where Virginia - which used to have the best schools - all of the sudden was ranked at the bottom of the pack in fourth grade reading and math and learning loss," Youngkin said.
Youngkin recently launched ALL in VA, a comprehensive plan to improve attendance, literacy, and learning with free tutoring for students.
Youngkin has also given parents more control over their children’s curriculum and more transparency in Virginia schools.
COMBATING LEARNING LOSS: "We have launched a high intensity tutoring program in order to help, particularly, our third through eighth graders regain what they have lost. We have a whole generation that is at risk and we need to go to work right now. We have been clear in our policies, we have been systematic in moving forward and I think we owe it to children who will define our future."
RESTORING STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE: “What we saw was, first of all, an effort to systematically lower expectations by the progressive left as standards were lowered... I believe this is representative of what the progressive left has been championing... that we are going to emphasize equal outcomes over excellence. We know that one-size-fits-all means one-size-fits-none. And on top of that, no one can argue with the fact that we have seen just catastrophic learning loss across this country because of bad policies by the progressive left. This is not a political statement; it's common sense. One of the biggest challenges we see today in Virginia and across the country is chronic absenteeism. What they taught our kids and families was that not being in school, that a 12-inch screen was a quality education, was okay. We know that it is not okay. We've got to get kids back in the classroom, we've got to give them intensive support. We've got to rescue this generation that is at risk.”
EMPOWERING PARENTS: “It’s about empowering parents to be engaged in their children’s lives. Parents must be at the head of the table. This isn’t controversial... Parents have a fundamental right in Virginia to make decisions with regards to their child’s education, their upbringing, and their care. It's clear. We are going to make sure that parents have that right.”
Click here to watch Youngkin's full interview.
