OPINION: I'm a dad who wants schools to teach kids how to read—not how to be gender fluid

Originally Published on FoxNews.com

The single biggest equalizer in history is literacy

I’m a dad, just like thousands of other dads in America. I provide for my family, participate in my children’s lives, and trust my public education system to teach my kids to be ready for success as they grow up. 

COVID pulled the curtain back and shined a spotlight on what was actually happening in our schools. Like so many other parents in America, I was fed up.

I was fed up with schools taking their cues from special interest groups and unions, with school boards silencing parents, and running the district as dictators who were given absolute power by the CDC. And so, I stood up and let my school board know that I expected them to do better. If they didn’t, then they should step aside because there are parents like me and lines of others that would stand up and gladly take their place.

Parents don’t want gender ideology and critical race theory taught to their children. We want our children to learn how to read and write. The single biggest equalizer in history is literacy. Teach any child from any socio-economic background how to read and comprehend what they read and empower them to take control of their futures. 

After two years of distance learning and years of politicizing our children’s education, parents are starting to question the motives of the public education system. Parents across this country have a desire to discuss how the education system, charged with teaching their kids, will fix the exposed learning deficiencies. But, do we hear anything about literacy remediation or literacy in general? No! Instead, we hear about gender fluidity and a curriculum built around ideologies and indoctrination.

Clearly, the special interest groups and political elite weren’t paying attention to my home state when we elected Governor Glenn Youngkin. When Terry McAuliffe said out loud in a debate heard around the country that parents shouldn’t have a role in their children’s education, that sent a shockwave through Virginia voters. As taxpayers, our tax dollars pay for the public education system, making us direct investors in the program. It is our divine right and responsibility to be deeply involved in the education of our children. For a public official to say otherwise undermines parents, citizens, and taxpayers across the country.

Governor Youngkin promised an emphasis on accelerated math courses in the state, met with resounding support. Something that goes hand in hand with literacy and math is financial literacy. It is important that our children understand what they read. It is also essential to know how money and the decisions we make regarding our finances impact our lives. Given the current economic climate in our country, it is clear that many of our elected leaders could use some financial literacy courses….