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To the Editor:
It has just come out in the news that 17 high schools in Virginia delayed giving National Merit awards to their best students. Only the top 3 percent get National Merit Awards. Administrators and superintendents have been accused of equity driven attempts to level the playing field for students who didn’t qualify for the scholarships at the expense of higher achievers.
One superintendent hired an equity coach at $450,000 a school year. Two school officials said they didn’t want to “hurt” the feelings of students who didn’t get the award. Academics is no longer the primary objective for those focused on equity. This cost many students from getting in the best colleges and from getting other scholarships. Parents were outraged and said this was theft from these outstanding students by those focused on equity. Thankfully, Virginia has a parent supporting governor that said he is calling for legislation prohibiting Virginia schools from withholding Merit awards in the name of equity. The Virginia Attorney General is investigating this push for equal outcomes for all students. Bill Bennett said this is going on in most states.
In 2021 Virginia’s Democratic governor candidate, Terry McAuliffe, said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” This one statement cost McAuliffe the election for Virginia’s governor. His Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin spent more on this issue than any issue and said he believed in the rights of parents. McAuliffe spent the most on ads to say only he would protect a women’s rights to abort.
Christians got more involved than ever in the election. A Christian organization called www.faithwins.us worked in Virginia to make sure Christians were registered to vote then voted their values on election day. The purpose of faithwins.us is to educate, activate and mobilize faith leaders, helping them leverage their influence and impact within the governmental and political arena. They provide leaders with resources to leverage your influence so Christians can be Matthew 5 examples of salt and light. Christians should care about who is elected as their leaders. However, Christian hope is ultimately in King Jesus and His Kingdom without end!
Republicans swept Virginia’s statewide elections, winning races for governor, attorney general and in a historic achievement by a black woman for lieutenant governor. Winsome Sears, a Christian, was elected and became the first black woman elected to a statewide office. Sears said, “God was exactly with us. Otherwise, we would never made it.” Sears also said “…I want to finish up by thanking you, Jesus. How sweet it is.” Sears is strong pro-life and has spoken out against critical race theory. Youngkin won governor in November 2021 because of his support for parents rights. Parents rights won in Virginia in 2021 and parent rights are a winning issue for Republicans now.
Parents rights are a safeguard for children against the indoctrination and overreach of government public schools. The Bible says children are a gift to parents from God and Christians are to bring them up in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord God.” World Magazine, a Christian magazine, said, No one — no teacher, administrator, school board member, or politician — has more of a vested interest in a young person’s mental health, physical safety, and holistic success than that child’s mother, father, or grandparents. This fact is not just practical, but Biblical: the primary responsibility of stewardship of a child’s mind and heart was given by God to parents, not any other individual or entity, and certainly not to any agent of the state. Indeed, the “first commandment with a promise” contains within it both God’s design for the family and the importance of honoring its hierarchy: “honor your father and mother…that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land” (Ephesians 6:2). “Any policy that usurps the God-given role of a parent and thus hinders a child’s ability to honor their mon and dad is evil, and it will always, without exception, lead to adverse outcomes, both individually for students and for students and for the society they have already begun to shape. Concerned parents should take heart that despite the many cultural and political powers standing against them, their dedication to the well-being of their own children is God ordained, righteous, and well worth the cost. The future literally depends on it!” Parents matter!

D.D. Nave
Elizabethton