Released Emails to Youngkin's Divisive Concepts Hotline Include Gripes about "Groomers," Masks, and... Beowulf?
A high school senior in rural Riner, Va., reported his English teacher to state authorities for the way she was teaching “Beowulf.”
“All my teacher wants to talk about is how the book is sexist because it portrays the warriors as men and not women,” the student wrote Jan. 30 to the teacher tip line that Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) had just set up to banish “divisive concepts” from public education. “I believe my teacher is in violation of Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order which prohibits the teaching of ‘divisive topics.’ ”
The student’s email was one of 350 that the Youngkin administration released this week to settle a lawsuit that The Washington Post and a dozen other media outlets brought in April, after the governor refused to release tip-line submissions under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
The 350 emails — many of them duplicates — are thought to represent a small fraction of the tips, although the total number submitted remains under wraps. Youngkin’s office referred a question about the total to Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R), who represented the state in the lawsuit. Miyares spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita declined to comment.
The 350 emails — many of them duplicates — are thought to represent a small fraction of the tips, although the total number submitted remains under wraps. Youngkin’s office referred a question about the total to Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R), who represented the state in the lawsuit. Miyares spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita declined to comment.
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Shortly after taking office in January, Youngkin announced that parents should report teachers who discuss “divisive” concepts in the classroom by emailing helpeducation@governor.virginia.gov.
“We’re asking for folks to send us reports and observations,” Youngkin said in a radio interview around the same time. “Help us be aware of … their child being denied their rights that parents have in Virginia, and we’re going to make sure we catalogue it all. … And that gives us further, further ability to make sure we’re rooting it out.”
Critics called the initiative an attempt to intimidate teachers and suggested flooding the tip line with tongue-in-cheek complaints, such as the sarcastically dire warning that Virginia schools were teaching “Arabic numerals.”