SW News: This week, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration released new education policies that affirm that parents in the American state will have extensive control over their children while they are enrolled in public schools.

The state also answered several important questions regarding the treatment of so-called transgender students by schools. According to the government's new model policies, education regulations shall be drafted to safeguard parents' rights concerning their children and to facilitate the exercise of those rights.

The policy states that schools shall respect parents' values and beliefs, allowing them to make the best decisions for their children. The guidelines come after years of heated discussion in Virginia and other states on how far school authorities can incorporate so-called transgender ideology in classrooms.

In the document “Model Policies on Ensuring Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools,” the Department of Education acknowledges the rights of parents to exercise their fundamental rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children.

The Code of Virginia reaffirms the rights of parents to determine how their children will be raised and educated. Empowering parents is not only a fundamental right, but it is also essential to improving outcomes for all children in Virginia.

The Department recognizes that each child is a unique individual with distinctive abilities and characteristics that should be valued and respected. All students have the right to attend school in an environment free from discrimination, harassment, or bullying.

It is also mindful of constitutional protections that prohibit governmental entities from requiring individuals to adhere to or adopt a particular ideological belief. The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees religious freedom and prohibits the government from compelling speech in some contexts. The document also said that the 2021 Model Policies also disregarded the rights of parents and ignored other legal and constitutional principles that significantly impact how schools educate students, including transgender students.

The new 2023 Model Policies guiding principles are that schools shall respect all students implying all children in Virginia have a right to learn, free from unlawful discrimination and harassment. Parents have the right to make decisions concerning their children including schools that respect parents’ values and beliefs. They have the right to instill and nurture values and beliefs and make decisions concerning their children’s education and upbringing in accordance with their customs, faith, and family culture.

It also says that parents are in the best position to work with their children and, where appropriate, their children’s healthcare providers to determine (a) what names, nicknames, and/or pronouns, if any, shall be used for their child by teachers and school staff while their child is at school, (b) whether their child engages in any counseling or social transition at school that encourages a gender that differs from their child’s sex, or (c) whether their child expresses a gender that differs with their child’s sex while at school.