“I DON’T THINK parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

Those words from former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe are why he will not be the future Governor Terry McAuliffe. During a debate with Republican challenger Glenn Youngkin in late September, McAuliffe defended his veto of a bill that would have let parents prevent their children from being exposed to materials they found objectionable.
The power of parents over their children’s education became the central issue of the gubernatorial campaign over the final month, with Youngkin stressing that parents should have ultimate control, while McAuliffe argued that parents should not be able to object to the decisions of public school officials.

On election night, Virginia parents settled the question, delivering a shocking upset win to Youngkin in a state that Joe Biden had carried by 10 points just one year ago. The power of parents to guide the education their children receive proved to be decisive in the most watched race in the nation.

Democrats attacked Youngkin for standing up for parents, falsely accusing him of wanting to ban books. They called him a racist for opposing the use of Critical Race Theory in public schools, arguing both that CRT didn’t really exist and that opposing it was a sign of White supremacy. Voters didn’t buy the smears.

Parents have the power to bring about political change. Politicians ignore them at their peril. In New Hampshire, Republicans at the State House have been listening to parents and empowering them to be more involved in their children’s education.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a huge strain on our students, and while some thrived, others struggled. We heard from parents that they needed more choices, and we listened. As part of the state budget, we created Education Freedom Accounts, which give parents the ability to direct how the state’s contribution to an adequate education is used. The program is limited to families earning 300% of the federal poverty level and structured similarly to New Hampshire’s successful Education Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

Throughout the budget debate, we were told that expanding school choice would dismantle public education. Nonsense. Most parents will always choose their local district school, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach to schools. Every child learns differently, and EFAs are a way to provide a great education for kids that aren’t thriving in a traditional classroom environment.

We provided new choices and parents responded. In the first year of this innovative program, 1,600 families in need have qualified for EFA scholarships. That’s 1,600 kids who will have a better path towards a great education.
Parents are concerned that radical left-wing theories such as Critical Race Theory have seeped into our schools. Young kids are taught that they are born privileged and racist. This is unacceptable and should never have been allowed to happen in our schools. So we included anti-discrimination language in the recent state budget, ensuring that schools will not teach that one race is inherently superior or inferior to another. We need to teach our children our history, including those times when America has struggled to live up to our founding ideals. But we must never teach them racist lessons.
Parents will be heard. If state legislators, school board members, or gubernatorial candidates ignore them, they will be heard at the voting booth. They will put themselves forward as candidates. They will give support to candidates who are willing to listen. They will rightly demand a greater say in what and how their children are taught.
We listened to parents in New Hampshire this year. Glenn Youngkin listened to them in Virginia. I expect their voices to be heard all across the country in 2022.

Sen. Chuck Morse (R-Salem) is president of the New Hampshire Senate.