Old Dominion News

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe thinks parents should take a step back from being too engaged with the curriculum taught to their children in Virginia public schools. 

“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” McAuliffe said during a recent debate with his Republican counterpart Glenn Youngkin, according to Real Clear Politics. 

McAuliffe’s comments come in the wake of a scandal at Fairfax County Public Schools.

In late September, the school system removed two books from its shelves activists say included illustrations of gay sex. 

McAuliffe, who previously served as governor from 2014-2018, is facing Youngkin to succeed fellow Democrat Ralph Northam.  

“The parents had the right to veto books ... also take them off the shelves,” McAuliffe said.  

McAuliffe said he is wary about parents getting too involved. 

“I'm not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions," McAuliffe said. 

McAuliffe’s comments come as Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo citing an “increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools.”

Garland’s Oct. 4 memo was in response to a National School Board Association letter calling recent parent activism “domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” 

In the memo, Garland directed the heads of the FBI and U.S. attorneys' offices to convene with federal, state and local law enforcement to discuss how best to deter this “disturbing trend.”  

“Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values,” Garland wrote.

Republicans sitting on the Senate Judiciary Committee responded to Garland’s memo expressing concerns that the Department of Justice message may appear to signal the policing of speech of parents and concerned citizens. 

“We urge you to make very clear to the American public that the Department of Justice will not interfere with the rights of parents to come before school boards and speak with educators about their concerns, whether regarding coronavirus-related measures, the teaching of critical race theory in schools, sexually explicit books in schools, or any other topic,” the letter reads. “Furthermore, we urge you to instruct the FBI and the various United States Attorneys to make clear in the meetings discussed above that speech and democratic processes, like those that occur at a local school board meeting, must be respected.”

Emerson College recently released polling results that showed McAuliffe and Youngkin are in a dead heat less than a month away from the November election. 

Notably, Youngkin leads among Hispanics -- 55% to 45% -- and suburbanites  -- 49% to 48%.

McAuliffe did not respond to an interview request by press time.