Sample of Virginia Parent Tip Line Finds No Reports of Critical Race Theory, Divisive Practices

Hundreds of emails from the Virginia governor's office obtained by News4 offer a glimpse into the so-called "parent tip line."

Shortly after taking office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced an email address for parents to report issues with their child's education.

News4 and dozens of other news outlets requested examples from Youngkin, but those requests were denied. News4 and the others sued the governor for withholding public information and the parties reached a settlement, which, in part, released 350 emails, including some from Virginia parents, though many were duplicates and the governor’s office won’t say how many emails it received.

In January, Youngkin told conservative radio host John Fredericks the tip line was "for parents to send us any instances where they feel that their fundamental rights are being violated, where their children are not being respected, where there are inherently divisive practices in their schools."

At the same time, Youngkin was vowing to end critical race theory in schools.

A series of the emails News4 obtained were from or in response to a Loudoun County man named Mital Gandhi, a father of two boys, including sixth-grader Liam. Liam wanted to take Algebra I in sixth grade but learned Loudoun was not offering Algebra I to sixth graders, claiming the state wouldn't allow it. Gandhi went to work to find out why.

By using the parent tip line, Gandhi learned Loudoun County was standing in the way of his son's accelerated math course, not the state.

"With the governor’s tip line, that helped a lot,” Gandhi said. “It’s sort of evened out the playing field in my opinion."

“What happened with that tip line is that the VDOE got involved, and when the superintendent gets an email from the VDOE saying, ‘Hey, don’t try to blame us, if your school district wants to accelerate him, you can do that.The state is not limiting you,'" Gandhi said.

While it's not exactly campaign trail fodder, it's undoubtedly a win for the governor's tip line.

But something else was happening at the same time: A longtime educator and administrator with roots in Northern Virginia was gathering positive feedback on teachers to flood the tip line.

Sheila Jones viewed the tip line as a means to belittle teachers, so she wrote dozens of emails complimenting teachers for their work and perseverance. 

"I wanted to show how we should actually praise the teachers versus looking for what’s wrong," she said. 

After combing through 350 emails that the governor's attorneys say were randomly selected, News4 found zero reports of critical race theory or so-called divisive practices.

News4 did find a debate about face masks and an avalanche of emails from a Richmond-based advocate for students in special education.

While News4 didn't see any specific complaints of divisive practices, there was one email about a child who was called a racial slur and bullied.

The governor's office gave News4 a statement, saying, in part, the governor is pleased that "a constituent’s communication with a Governor is protected under the law and exempt from FOIA."

Correction (Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022 at 6:34 a.m.): An earlier version of this story misstated Sheila Jones' last name.