Youngkin's Tip Line Meant To Rat Out Teachers Faces 2nd Lawsuit

VIRGINIA — American Oversight and law firm Ballard Spahr filed a lawsuit Monday in Arlington County Circuit Court seeking to compel Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to release records concerning the state's controversial school tip line.

On his first day in office in January, Youngkin signed an executive order that banned the teaching of critical race theory and other subjects, characterizing them as "political indoctrination."

"Inherently divisive concepts, like Critical Race Theory and its progeny, instruct students to only view life through the lens of race and presumes that some students are consciously or unconsciously racist, sexist, or oppressive, and that other students are victims," Youngkin said, in the executive order.

No public K-12 school curricula in Virginia teaches critical race theory, according to an American Oversight release.

Later in January, Youngkin announced the launching of the email tip line (helpeducation@governor.virginia.gov), where people could report school officials who were teaching banned subjects.

In April, dozens of media outlets, including the Washington Post, sued Youngkin after his administration refused to release any records about the tip line.

Related: Youngkin Denies Requests To Make School Tip Line Emails

The Post and other news organizations had filed Freedom of Information Act acts seeking the records, but Youngkin's administration denied the requests, saying they were exempt as the governor's "working papers and correspondence," according to the Post.

“When a constituent writes to the Governor, he treats that communication as confidential and would not share the contents with the public,” Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said in an email to the Post. “There is an expectation of privacy that he takes very seriously.”

American Oversight Executive Director Heather Sawyer criticized the tip line as a "political ploy" that put teachers and public education at risk.

"The secrecy makes matters worse,” she said in a release. “While publicly defending the tip line, the Youngkin administration refuses to release records that would allow the public to decide for themselves. What is the tip line’s true purpose and how has the administration acted on these ‘tips’? What is it about this program that they don’t want the public to see?”

During his campaign for governor in 2021, Youngkin regularly attacked the quality of education across the state. His campaign latched on to campaigns by groups of conservative parents who opposed the teaching of critical race theory and the wearing of masks in schools.

Related: VA School Superintendents Urge Youngkin To Terminate Tip Line

Critical race theory is an academic framework, usually taught in universities, which is based on the idea that racism is embedded in American institutions, creating persistent systemic inequalities for people of color. The term, once an obscure collegiate field of study, has become a conservative catch-all term for racial equity and diversity initiatives in public schools.

A number of educational organizations have voiced their opposition to the governor's tip line, including the Virginia Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators, Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals, Virginia Association of School Superintendents, Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Virginia Counselors Association, Virginia Education 7 Association, Virginia Parent Teacher Association, and the Virginia Professors and Educational Leadership, according to American Oversight's lawsuit.

A March letter sent to Youngkin's Department of Education on behalf of the 133 public school division superintendents said "gross assumptions" were made about school curriculums in an interim report released in February by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow.

"Division superintendents disagree with your assumption that discriminatory and divisive concepts have become widespread in Virginia school divisions," Howard Kiser, executive director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, wrote in the letter.

Kiser said the letter was crafted and adopted by the association's 12-member board and does not necessarily reflect a consensus among all of its members, 8News reported.

The school superintendents urged the Youngkin administration to terminate the tip line created for residents to report divisive content being taught in public schools.

"Parents and educators must collaborate in a positive manner to achieve better outcomes for children," Kiser said. "This administration can be a catalyst for positive stakeholder relationships through messages and actions."