Virginia Politics & News
Virginia news from The Daily Signal, covering state politics, education policy, election integrity, and the political shift between Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth’s conservative regions.
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news
Amid Controversy Over Virginia Public Schools, Religious Private Schools See Surge in Enrollment
As the Fairfax County Public Schools system reports dwindling school enrollment, leaders at religious private schools across Northern Virginia say they are only growing. “This year alone, I can point to at least four families … who have either relocated to the area from other states or who have moved from very progressive public school… -
news
3 Takeaways From AG Garland’s House Panel Testimony on Virginia School Rape Case, Conflict of Interest
Attorney General Merrick Garland denied any knowledge Thursday of a highly publicized Northern Virginia school rape case and suggested that he called for federal investigations of parents without independently confirming a purported spike in threats made to school boards and teachers. During the hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Republican lawmakers grilled the attorney general… -
news
‘Are You Transgender?’: Virginia School Survey Asks Students About Gender, Sex, Intimate Family Details
A Fairfax County Public Schools system survey will ask children as young as 13 years old to anonymously answer questions about their sex lives, drug and alcohol consumption, and intimate details of their family life. The school system administers the survey to students in the eighth, 10th, and 12th grades each fall, and a separate… -
news
Virginia School System Deflects Charges It Covered Up Rape of Ninth Grade Girl by ‘Gender-Fluid’ Boy
Loudoun County Public Schools in Northern Virginia is being accused of covering up allegations that a boy in late May sexually assaulted a ninth grade girl in her school’s restroom—the nightmare scenario so often described by opponents of radical transgender school policies. The school system allegedly covered up the incident by transferring the male student… -
news
Matt Walsh, Parents Slam Virginia School District’s ‘Indoctrination and Psychological Abuse of Kids’
A few hundred protesters gathered Tuesday evening outside a school board meeting in Virginia to join conservative writer Matt Walsh in pushing back against what they say are far-left policies on critical race theory and transgender students in the school district just west of the nation's capital. Many of the protesters told The Daily Caller… -
opinion
‘It Feels Like the School Board Is Dividing Us,’ Virginia Mom Says
A Virginia suburb 45 minutes west of the nation’s capital has captured national attention because parents and teachers are resisting a school board that has pushed woke ideas such as critical race theory and gender ideology in the classroom. Shawntel Cooper is one of those Loudoun County parents who decided to take action. In May,… -
news
3 Teachers Now Suing Virginia School System Over Transgender Pronouns
Students in one of the nation’s wealthiest suburbs returned to school Thursday even as three teachers were in court to challenge a school district policy forcing all teachers to refer to self-identified transgender students by their preferred pronouns. The Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling ordering the reinstatement of Byron Tanner… -
news
Virginia School Board Adopts Transgender Policy Amid Parents’ Protests
Loudoun County, Virginia, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, will allow male students who identify as females to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms at school. The policy also allows biological males to play on girls sports teams. The Loudoun County School Board voted 7-2 Wednesday night to adopt a transgender policy affirming students’… -
news
School Board Walks Out in Virginia County as Parents Criticize Transgender Policy, Critical Race Theory
A school board meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia, scheduled to discuss a proposed transgender policy, came to an abrupt halt Tuesday evening after the board ended public comment and proceeded to leave the room. The board moved to end public comments after the crowd of several hundred erupted into cheers following critical remarks by former… -
opinion
How Stand Up Virginia Is Working to Hold Rogue Prosecutors Accountable
Brenda Tillett, founder and president of Stand Up Virginia, joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to talk about the new organization and how it intends to hold rogue prosecutors accountable. “In Fairfax County, Steve Descano was funded by George Soros,” Tillett says, referring to the elected commonwealth’s attorney in Fairfax County, Virginia, and the billionaire financier… -
news
Virginia School District Challenges Judge’s Ruling Reinstating Teacher Who Wouldn’t Use Transgender Pronouns
A school district in Virginia is appealing a judge’s June 8 order to reinstate an elementary school gym teacher who it suspended for saying he wouldn’t call children who “identify” as transgender by their “preferred” names or pronouns. “Many students and parents at Leesburg Elementary have expressed fear, hurt, and disappointment about coming to school,”… -
opinion
Virginia County’s ‘Diverse Book Collection’ Spotlights Radical Agenda Coming to K-12 Schools
A Virginia school district has become an epicenter of the debates occurring over critical race theory and other, similar curriculums coming to K-12 classrooms around the country. In 2020, Loudoun County Public Schools adopted a plan to double down on bringing so-called culturally responsive teaching to the classroom. It’s notable that the administration of Loudoun… -
opinion
Virginia Flunks Math
The state of Virginia, which used to be reliably red and mostly conservative, is providing more evidence of an increasingly blue and liberal hue. Virginia is “considering” renovating its math courses. As the publication Virginia Mercury noted: In webinars [Virginia Department of Education] officials have been upfront that the initiative is based on data, especially standardized… -
opinion
Manchin Should Be ‘For the People’ of West Virginia With a Vote Against HR 1
Here is the question that Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, needs to answer: Is he going to vote in favor of a bill that takes away the power of his constituents—his voters—and their elected state legislators to decide what rules govern elections in their state? Because that is exactly what HR 1, which represents a federal takeover… -
opinion
Leftists’ Objections to Election Reform in West Virginia Seem Like a Parody of Themselves
The Judiciary Committee of the West Virginia House of Representatives held a virtual hearing on an election reform bill on April 5. What took place was like a story from the parody site The Babylon Bee. I was invited to testify in support of the bill by some West Virginians, so I made a serious,… -
opinion
West Virginia Families, Students Have New Reason for ‘Hope’ on Educational Options
Thousands of children across West Virginia have new hope for the future. State legislators have approved a proposal that would allow students to use education savings accounts to choose how and where they learn. Lawmakers will now send the proposal for these Hope Scholarships to the governor’s desk. Parents can customize their child’s learning experience… -
news
Virginia to Become 16th State to Legalize Marijuana
Virginia lawmakers passed legislation legalizing marijuana Saturday, making it poised to be the 16th state—and the first in the South—to legalize the drug for recreational use. The measure passed the state House 48-43 and the state Senate 20-19. Not a single Republican in either chamber voted in support of the measure. “This, to me, is a justice bill,”… -
news
Virginia Rule Allowing Late Ballots Missing Postmark Was Illegal, Court Rules
The Virginia Board of Elections rule allowing officials to count ballots that arrived without a postmark up to three days after the election was illegal, a state judge ruled. Virginia Circuit Court Judge William Eldridge ruled the state’s late mail-in ballot law violated state statute and permanently banned the law in future Virginia elections, the… -
opinion
Virginia Values Act Makes Everyone Who Disagrees a Bigot
A federal court in Virginia last week held a hearing on a wedding photographer’s lawsuit challenging a state law that he says requires him to participate in same-sex weddings against his personal Christian beliefs. Lawyers representing photographer Bob Updegrove asked the court Friday to stop enforcing the law while his lawsuit against Virginia Attorney General… -
news
Illegal Immigrants in Virginia to Get ‘Driver Privilege’ Cards
Illegal immigrants will be able to apply for driver privilege cards in Virginia starting Jan. 1, 2021, according to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. Advocates of the permits claim the issue is in the interest of public safety, NBC Washington reported. Virginia’s General Assembly, which has a Democratic majority, passed the legislation allowing the cards…