I wasn’t raised to sit on the sidelines. My dad served his country proudly in the U.S. Navy for over 20 years and my mom is a public school teacher with over 10 years of experience teaching preschool, kindergarten, and special education. It hasn’t been easy, but they put service to their country and community first and they instilled those values in me.
So when I saw the beginning of a concerted, right-wing attack on the public schools in my community, I pushed back. Since 2020, a handful of school board members in Virginia Beach, along with their supporters, have relentlessly attacked our schools, staff, and students.
Some examples of this include:
And the list goes on...
Their ring leader, School Board Member Vicky Manning, is the worst offender and will not stop until there is a right-wing majority on the school board. To give you an idea of who she is, she recently attacked ESL (English Second Language) students and said “continuing to educate South Americans is unsustainable.”
In 2021, a group of parents, students, educators, and community stakeholders got together and said enough is enough. We formed a political action committee called Stand and Advocate for Equity (SAFE). We support candidates and policies that promote equitable opportunities to all, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and faith, disability, health status, and socioeconomic status.
While Virginia Beach has been fortunate to have a majority on the school board that supports public education and all of our students, that could change this November. Right-wing Republicans have put up their slate of far-right, ultra-conservative candidates hellbent on further marginalizing minority students and defunding public education.
Please join me and SAFE in fighting back against these extremists and protecting our schools from their MAGA agenda.