Youngkin to discuss education in town hall

Gov. Glenn Youngkin is slated to take part next week in a live town hall about education on CNN.

Youngkin will take questions from a studio audience and hear from students, parents and teachers, according to a Wednesday release from the network. CNN Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper will moderate.

Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Wednesday.

The town hall is slated for March 9 — also be the final day in office for Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow. The Youngkin appointee announced her plan to resign in a Wednesday letter to the governor.

No reason was given for her departure. But the state’s education department recently came under fire after announcing in January that it made an error in calculating state aid for K-12 schools, meaning districts would receive $201 million less than expected.

Democrats, including House Minority Leader Don Scott, slammed the administration for “dropping the ball” on school funding because it was instead focused on stoking culture war issues in schools.

Youngkin, who made parental rights a cornerstone of his gubernatorial campaign, frequently zeros in on issues about education.

During his first month in office, he signed an executive order aiming to ban mask mandates in schools and launched a now-defunct email tip line for parents to report educators for teaching “divisive concepts.”

Later, Youngkin made headlines after he appeared at a Virginia Board of Education meeting — an unusual move for a governor — and urged the state to reexamine how history is taught in the commonwealth. The governor also drew criticism from LGBTQ advocates after he called on teachers to inform parents about a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation.