For most of 2021, Loudoun County Public Schools has been in the news. While much of the coverage has focused on the debate about critical race theory or transgender policies, the story of Loudoun County is far bigger. It’s about how a pandemic led parents to open their eyes and witness a school system run by incompetent officials focused on pleasing special interests and refusing to give parents a seat at the table to help shape their children’s education.
The story began during the pandemic, when parents were balancing work and managing their children’s virtual learning. By June of 2020, parents started speaking out in favor of full-time, in-person schooling. These efforts had no effect; in July then-Superintendent Eric Williams declared that the beginning of the 2020-21 school year would be virtual. Frustrated parents started showing up to school board meetings in droves, begging for their children to be able to return to a productive learning environment.