Media fail: Leader disputes reports all Virginia school superintendents oppose Youngkin plans

A letter to Virginia state leaders purportedly expressing the disapproval of all the state's 100-plus superintendents regarding Gov. Glenn Youngkin's educational policies does not actually represent the view of all of those officials, an educational leader revealed this week.

That letter made national headlines for purporting to express the will of Virginia's 133 superintendents in disapproving of Youngkin's recent curriculum and education measures, including a "tip line" for individuals to call and report violations to the state.

Yet Virginia Association of School Superintendents President Zebedee Talley Jr. told news radio station WRVA this week that "people have taken this and just gone way off course," explaining that the letter "simply expresses some concerns, and it is not all 133 superintendents who feel this way."

The letter "does represent the majority of our board," Talley noted. 

Youngkin himself disputed the characterization of the letter prior to Talley's acknowledgement of its non-unanimity this week. 

The letter "is a gross misrepresentation of what superintendents believe," the governor said on Monday.

Youngkin campaigned last year against the state's frequent teaching of critical race theory, an academic discipline that teaches black students that they are oppressed and that white students are oppressors. 

The governor signed an executive order banning such teachings shortly after taking office.