Democrats in Virginia blocked Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s nominee for the Virginia Board of Education, claiming that she is both “unqualified” and aligned with white supremacist groups.
“I did not conform to groupthink and I don’t conform to the orthodoxies that the fringe left holds so dear. I completely reject it,” Dutta told The Epoch Times in a recent interview. More and more parents are standing up “for a rigorous wholesome education for their children,” she continued.
Despite Dutta’s work for parental rights and rigor in education, Hashmi made a case for blocking Dutta’s confirmation.
“This particular board member has not been a part of education, or any kind of educational entities, has not worked in the space of public education and therefore is not qualified to serve on the board of education,” said Hashmi.
When Republican state Sen. Steve Newman challenged Hashmi’s claim about Dutta’s lack of experience in the education field and questioned whether other board members who do not come from the education sector should also be taken off the board, Hashmi then claimed that Dutta does not acknowledge racism in American history or the Constitution.
Words Are Distorted
Making reference to Dutta’s comments at a recent state Board of Education meeting, Hashmi said Dutta does not have a correct understanding of slavery and racism in America.“Most recently in the discussions on ‘Standards of Learning,’ this particular board member indicated that racism was not a factor in American history and that the Constitution of the United States did not have any indications of racism or slavery within the document. We know that that is not correct,” added Hashmi.
Dutta denies these claims and said her words have been “distorted.” She said she believes the U.S. Constitution is remarkable because it enshrines basic rights for all, not slavery and racism as the left sees it.
“That’s why so many immigrants come to this country, for all for the liberty that you don’t find in any other country in the world. It also provided for a set of checks and balances to form a set of government that protects the individual’s rights,” Dutta told The Epoch Times.
Hashmi claimed Dutta’s views are aligned with white supremacy.
“One area that I would just speak to briefly is the alignment that we’ve seen, with the very extreme and right-wing, white supremacist groups, this agenda of forcing a perspective on our history and on this nation’s standards that denies the role that slavery played in this country, that denies the existence of anti-black racism in this country,” said Hashmi.
Dutta said Hashmi assassinated her character on the floor of the Senate.
Youngkin Fires Back
The Virginia Board of Education has nine members, four of whom were appointed by Youngkin and four by former Democrat governors. Dutta would have tipped the majority in favor of Youngkin.Dutta is an immigrant from India, a successful software developer, and a parental rights leader who helped launch “Coalition for TJ,” a community group advocating for merit-based admissions instead of equity-based admissions at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a magnet school in Fairfax County, Virginia.
One of the turning points for Dutta was when the school principal sent an email to parents to tell them to check their privilege. Dutta said the school used race-blind, merit-based admissions and that the majority of the students—who worked hard to be admitted to the school—were Asian American.
Youngkin appointed Dutta to the Virginia Board of Education in July. She was on track to be confirmed by the Virginia Senate on Tuesday night along with various other Youngkin appointees.
“She is not only qualified, but she also epitomizes parental involvement in our schools and we need her voice on our Board of Education,” the governor continued.
Remarkable Documents
Hashmi’s accusations come in the wake of Dutta’s opposing socialism and praising the U.S. founding documents during a meeting of the Virginia Board of Education on Feb. 1. The panel was reviewing proposed changes to history and social science standards in Virginia public schools.Anne Holton, a board member appointed by the former governor and the wife of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), said she was “uncomfortable” with those parts of the documents and suggested taking them out completely, saying the section was political.
“You cannot reference the Declaration of Independence and Constitution as ’remarkable documents’ without also acknowledging that they contain fundamental flaws of enshrining slavery and limiting the protections that they provided for only to white, propertied men,” Holton said during the board meeting.
Holton proposed completely taking out pages 7–9, but Dutta pushed back on Holton’s assertions.
“As far as the Declaration and the Constitution, I think they’re remarkable documents. I don’t believe the Declaration and Constitution enshrined slavery, nor did they limit protections to white propertied men,” said Dutta at the board meeting.
“I think socialism is just about as bad as communism,” Dutta said at the board meeting. “It co-opts the important decisions belonging to families and individuals.”
Merit Over Equity
During the Senate vote on Youngkin’s nominations, Hashmi insisted that the correct nominee would promote equity, and Dutta does not do that.“It’s very critically important that we appoint individuals to this particular board who are determined and focused on the opportunity to bring equity, to bring resources, and to uphold the promise of public education for every child in the Commonwealth,” said Hashmi.
Dutta said she believes that the broader issue is that teachers unions and special interests groups have taken over public education and are making money by pushing these Diversity Equity and Inclusion ideologies and completely disregarding parents and their rights.
