WaPo issues 'clarification' after suggesting 'all 133 Virginia school superintendents' denounce Youngkin plan

The Washington Post was forced to issue a "clarification" after it was confronted on a recent report suggesting "all" of Virginia's 133 school superintendents had denounced an initiative from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. 

On Friday, the Post ran the headline "All 133 Virginia school superintendents urge Youngkin to scrap tip line and content policy," focusing on a letter the Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS) sent to Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow. It was in response to her February memo announcing efforts to roll back education policies enacted in the prior administration, particularly those related to the teachings of the critical race theory ideology, as well as a so-called "tip line" proposed in January on the subject. 

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VASS executive director Howard Kiser began the letter claiming it was written "on behalf of 133 public school division superintendents" and slammed the "gross assumptions" from Balow's 30-day report about education in the commonwealth and called for its superintendents to decide what is in their school curriculums instead of the governor. 

"All 133 Virginia public school division superintendents have urged Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) to scrap the ‘tip line’ set up to let parents complain about teachers and principals and have asked him to stop his campaign against the teaching of 'divisive' content in schools," Washington Post reporter Gregory S. Schneider wrote last week. 

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A separate report published Friday from Post reporter Valerie Strauss similarly hyped the letter, writing "Virginia’s 133 school superintendents are taking a strong stand against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s move to end most education equity initiatives, saying that ‘gross assumptions’ were made by his administration about what happens in classrooms and that he could set back public education ‘many years.’"

However, it turned out the Post oversold the support the defiant letter to the Youngkin administration had among Virginia's superintendents. 

Richmond's WIRC reported Kiser "clarified that the letter was crafted and adopted by the 12 member board and doesn’t necessarily reflect a consensus among all of its members." Northern Virginia's WJLA reported the commonwealth's "133 superintendents were not advised of the letter before it was sent to the Governor’s administration."

"It was a surprise to read a letter that presumed my agreement in the Washington Post as reported through various news sources," one superintendent told the station Monday. "I think several of the superintendents in the state were a little surprised that we were attributed to something that we had not seen. It’s a little bit of pot calling the kettle black when the letter that was written to the State Superintendent was very critical of the process when in fact there was no process by the State’s superintendent association to loop in its membership."

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"I was not made aware of the letter prior to it being sent, and I would say I’d certainly appreciate it being consulted with prior to the letter going out indicating a representation of my - and along with my colleagues across the commonwealth’s - views," another superintendent said. "If there is a letter going out on my behalf I would certainly appreciate and expect to know exactly what that letter says before it's being distributed."

Youngkin slammed the letter as a "gross misrepresentation of what superintendents believe" and accused the letter of mischaracterizing the support the association had. 

"This is what these associations are trying to do: which is again put bureaucracy, put politicians, in between parents and their children," Youngkin told WJLA. "This is why Virginians elected me in the fall. This is why we went to work on day one and on day one we reaffirmed the rights of parents to make these decisions." 

Youngkin press secretary Macaulay Porter similarly slammed the "incorrect" reports as "reckless."

Fox News Digital reached out to The Washington Post on Monday night to see if it stood by its reports on the VASS letter or whether they warrant a correction. 

On Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Post told Fox News Digital it updated its initial report and added a "clarification" to the top of the article. 

"This article was clarified to explain that the letter to the state superintendent of schools from the Virginia Association of School Superintendents was written on behalf of the state's 133 school superintendents and was approved by the board, but not signed by every member of the group," the clarification read. 

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The headline, however, still reads, "All 133 Virginia school superintendents urge Youngkin to scrap tip line and content policy." The Post's other article about the VASS letter remains unchanged. 

The Post did not immediately respond to follow-up questions, including why the headline in its initial report was not changed and an explanation as to why it issued a "clarification" rather than a correction.

Youngkin's office responded to Fox News' request for comment by pointing to past statements made on the subject.