A group of parents with children who attend schools within the Albemarle County District are suing the school board for “enacting discriminatory policies and indoctrinating students in radical ideology.”
According to the Alliance Defending Freedom, attorneys who are representing the nine parents, the school board’s policies allow members of the staff to treat students differently based on race.
The suit explains the curriculum offered by the district advances racial stereotypes. In one example provided by the plaintiffs, a chart details that individuals are expected to communicate in various ways, depending on their race.
“Schools exist to educate, not indoctrinate children. Every parent has the right to protect their children against a school district that uses their authority to indoctrinate students in harmful ideologies,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of ADF’s Center for Parental Rights. “Our clients believe that every person is made in the image of God, deserves respect, and therefore, should not be punished or rewarded for something over which they have no control. Public schools have no right to demean students because of their race, ethnicity, or religion”
Specifically, the lawsuit contends that the violates their civil rights because it
- violates and interferes with parents’ fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children;
- violates their free speech and religious freedom rights by compelling students to affirm and communicate messages that conflict with their beliefs while silencing dissenting viewpoints; and
- violates their equal protection rights.
The public school system in central Virginia is not the first school district in the state to receive backlash for curriculum.
Earlier this year, in Loudoun County, hundreds of parents attended multiple school board meetings to object to the district’s implementation of Critical Race Theory (CRT) teachings and multiple policies regarding transgender students in the school system.
— — —
Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
