Virginia mom, former teacher pulls child from public schools amid left-wing curriculum push

A Virginia mom and former public school teacher told Fox News Digital that she is relieved to have her child in private school after a lawmaker introduced a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) curriculum into the legislature.

"I saw the decline starting in 2009 in the public school system," Debra Tisler, a former public school teacher, told Fox News Digital.

Tisler, a mother of four, decided not to enroll her youngest child in public school, opting for a private school instead. After watching public education spiral into what she described as a breeding ground for "political ideologists and activists," Tisler said she taught in Fairfax County Public Schools from 1997 to 2014. 

According to Tisler, parents in Fairfax County Public Schools protested the curriculum over the years, targeting gender identity, sexually explicit content in library books and academic standards.

"I did not like seeing the developmentally inappropriate information that was being pushed onto children at a very young age," she added.

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As Democrats retake control of the Virginia legislature and governor's mansion, a flurry of left-wing bills has been introduced to begin the legislative session, including one that would enshrine DEI in the classroom into law. (iStock)

Tisler also reacted to Democrats retaking control of the Virginia legislature and governor’s office this month. On the first day of Democratic control of the state, lawmakers introduced several bills, including a measure that would embed DEI in classrooms.

Democratic Delegate Sam Rasoul is seeking to pass HB 614, which seeks to update "history and social science standards and instruction" for "historically marginalized communities."

The purpose of the bill seeks to "ensure comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive education" for elementary and secondary school children, according to its summary. To fulfill that goal, the bill mandates instructional materials and standards in history and social science courses that include "contributions, perspectives, and experiences of historically marginalized communities."

Those communities, according to the summary, include racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants and refugees, women, individuals with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, people from various socioeconomic backgrounds, individuals from various religious backgrounds and an open-ended, "any other group of individuals that the Board of Education deems appropriate, in order to affirm such communities and promote a more holistic understanding of history."

Rasing concerns about HB 614, Tisler shared why she prefers her son to be enrolled in private school over public school.

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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger speaks during inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.  (Steve Helber/AP)

"Their focus is on developing the child's skills. It's an environment where each child is respected for their God-given abilities," Tisler said. "Kids are not pitted against each other. He [Tisler's son] doesn't have to go to a classroom where it's the 'Hunger Games,' where if you don't believe in the political ideology, you're ousted."

She continued, "He's allowed to be a kid in the environment that he's in. He doesn't have adult problems thrown at him. He doesn't have divisiveness thrown at them. He can learn and flourish."

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who was inaugurated on Jan. 17 after campaigning as a pragmatic centrist, is signaling a leftward shift for the state. After her inauguration, the Democrat rescinded ex-Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s 287(g) order that instituted cooperation with ICE and aimed to push progressive approaches to zoning to ensure housing affordability.

It's unclear whether Spanberger supports House Bill 614 and her office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on whether she approves of the legislation. Rasoul also did not respond to comment on whether Spanberger has committed to supporting the bill.

In 2021, then-Gov. Ralph Northam Department of Education released its Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools, requiring students and teachers to refer to other students by their chosen pronouns. Republican Glenn Youngkin won in an upset in the gubernatorial election that year, in part powered by the parental rights movement, but Democrats are now in power again in Richmond.

A Virginia mom and former public school teacher told Fox News Digital that she is relieved to have her child in a private school after the state introduced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) curriculum in the legislature. (Fox News Digital)

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Tisler told Fox News Digital that she believes private schools were the better choice for her child because of her own experienced pressure from administrators to align with their "political ideology" while teaching in public schools.

"The learning environment, I mean, even the teachers themselves, as an educator, that taught in a public school system — you're now getting told and dictated that this is what you need to teach. You need to teach our political ideology. No teachers should stand for that. And in either form, political ideology doesn't belong in the classroom," she added.

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Tisler continued, "I just decided I wanted him in an environment where he would grow and flourish with his basic skills, like reading, writing, math. That was the focus and not all this nonsense."

Fox News' Peter D'Abrosca contributed to this report.