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VIRGINIA

Youngkin's office will not release 'divisive practices' tip line emails to the public

Governor Youngkin's office denied a public records request, opting to keep the messages secret while making evaluations on the teachings of race in Virginia schools.

Author: Evan Watson
Published: 6:01 PM EST February 3, 2022
Updated: 6:01 PM EST February 3, 2022

NORFOLK, Va. — Do parents and teachers agree with Governor Glenn Youngkin, that there are “divisive practices” when it comes to teaching about race and history in schools that need to be “rooted out?” Or, do they have something else to say? ... Don't expect answers from the Governor's office. ... Emails sent to the 'helpeducation@governor.virginia.gov' tip line are being withheld as “working papers and correspondence of the Office of the Governor.”

13News Now Investigative Reporter Evan Watson submitted a records request for these messages to the tip line. It was denied on Wednesday. ... This exemption cited is discretionary, meaning Youngkin’s office could release the emails, but it’s choosing not to do that. Instead, the office is opting to keep the messages secret while making evaluations on the teachings of race in Virginia schools.

Megan Rhyne, executive director for the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said if anonymity is a concern, the Governor's office could redact the names of people who emailed the tip line before releasing the messages to the public, but it's deciding not to do that either. ... "I think the response is probably sound and also totally predictable," Rhyne said. "The Governor's office is making a choice -- despite intense public interest from the public, parents, students, teachers, and school administrators -- to keep this information secret."

Some educators said secretive tip lines or talks of banning certain books and teachings about race and history in public education could produce a chilling effect for teachers. ... "If we don’t challenge those things, we’ll get more of the same, and our going back to normal will be oppression, division, and those things we’ve distorted Critical Race Theory to mean," said Dr. Shuntay Tarver, an ODU professor, in a previous interview with 13News Now.

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Virginia Coalition for Open Government, Transparency News, 2/4/2022

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After asking parents to report “inherently divisive teaching practices,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office is refusing to make public the emails sent to a tip line launched last week. When Margaret Thornton heard about the tip line, she worried it would roll back the progress made in public education over the past few years. But to her dismay, the governor cited a public records exemption Wednesday saying the emails she sought were considered “working papers and correspondence of the Office of the Governor.” A similar request filed by several news organizations, including the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot, was refused on the same grounds. Youngkin’s administration did not respond to requests for comment. Megan Rhyne, executive director for Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said a government agency isn’t required to cite the exemption, but that it’s a choice to withhold the requested records.
The Virginian-Pilot

Do parents and teachers agree with Governor Glenn Youngkin, that there are “divisive practices” when it comes to teaching about race and history in schools that need to be “rooted out?” Or, do they have something else to say? Don't expect answers from the Governor's office. 13News Now Investigative Reporter Evan Watson submitted a records request for these messages to the tip line. It was denied on Wednesday. This exemption cited is discretionary, meaning Youngkin’s office could release the emails, but it’s choosing not to do that. Instead, the office is opting to keep the messages secret while making evaluations on the teachings of race in Virginia schools.
WVEC

Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently launched a tip line to report teachers and schools for “inherently divisive teaching practices.” Members of the media across the state – including VPM News – and community members have submitted public records requests for copies of emails and voicemails sent to the tip line so far. But thus far, Youngkin’s office has fully withheld this information, claiming the records are exempt as the “working papers and correspondence” of the governor’s office. The Department of Education has cited the same exemption in withholding a document from VPM that appears to instruct DOE officials on how to enforce Youngkin’s executive orders signed on his first day in office. The Word document, called “EA Instructions,” was sent by Ali Ahmad, Youngkin’s director of policy, to Youngkin’s counsel, Richard Cullen, and his advisor, Matt Moran on Jan. 18. The email came three days after Youngkin signed executive orders seeking to root out “divisive content” from schools and allowing parents to opt-out of local mask mandates in K-12 schools.
VPM

Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said there is no requirement for the messages to be withheld and said they could be released with names and email addresses redacted. “I think the response was totally predictable, but I also think the response is tone-deaf. This is an issue of intense interest for the public,” she told InsideNoVa. “The office is making a choice to keep this information from the public, creating even more questions about what the purpose of this tip line is or what the governor plans to do with the information collected.”
Inside NoVa

“Every governor has overused the working papers exemption,”said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government and an occasional Mercury contributor. Former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam cited the code section to shield his daily calendar in the midst of a key permit vote on Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline. His predecessor, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, claimed the code section shielded the list of felons included in his sweeping rights restoration order — some of whom regained political rights despite not completing their sentences. More unusual — and concerning, Rhyne said — were FOIA denials from the Virginia Department of Education. A reporter for the public radio station VPM News submitted a records request to the agency last month related to Youngkin’s executive orders.
Virginia Mercury

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