WATCH THIS GUY.  WATCH HIM CAREFULLY.  There is increasing speculation, informed speculation, that Governor Glen Youngkin of Virginia, will get into the presidential race should Donald Trump's legal problems force him out or Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida fail to improve his poll standings.  It was Youngkin who turned Virginia red, and he has a proved public appeal, especially in his handling of sensitive issues.  FROM THE RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH: 

The Youngkin administration on Tuesday implemented a finalized K-12 transgender policy that emphasizes parents’ rights and rolls back some of the protections afforded to transgender students under the previous administration’s model policies.

The new model policies, which the Virginia Department of Education put into effect Tuesday afternoon, aim to require students to use school bathrooms that match the sex they were assigned at birth “except to the extent that federal law otherwise requires.”

The model policies themselves will not have any immediate effect on school divisions’ practices. They are meant to be a model for local school boards, which, by law, must implement their own policies that are consistent with the state’s model policies.

The new policies also require school division personnel to refer to each student using only the pronouns “appropriate to the sex appearing in the student’s official record — that is, male pronouns for students whose sex is male, and female pronouns for a student whose sex is female.”

Gov. Glenn Younkin said in a statement: “All children in Virginia deserve to have a parent engaged in their life and to be treated with dignity and respect. The VDOE updated model policies reaffirm my administration’s continued commitment to ensure that every parent is involved in conversations regarding their child’s education, upbringing, and care.”

COMMENT:  The governor's policies apply much-needed common sense to the issue of parental rights.  Just as the parent is the first teacher, the parent is also the first guardian.  It is in the interest of the child, and a reflection of our religious and cultural tradition, that parents play the leading role in the upbringing of children.  We also should note that we use the term "public schools" because those schools are owned by the public, by the people, not by educators or politicians.  Parents have, until recently, been welcome "at school."  But leftist groups seeking to indoctrinate the next generation of children, have withdrawn that welcome.

Obviously, Youngkin's policy is meeting fierce opposition.  But we should study how he handles himself, and how he deals with controversy.  He may be called upon next year.  So far, his record is encouraging.

July 22,  2023