Bill Could Wipe out Private Schools!
Urge your Delegate to protect the integrity of private education and OPPOSE HB 359
Amid the crush of leftist priorities that include advancing radical abortion policy, gerrymandering, and gambling legislation, the next major target is clear: private schools and parental authority over children’s education.
HB 359, introduced by Delegate Dan Helmer (D), is a direct and unprecedented assault on private education in Virginia. This bill would effectively eliminate meaningful private schooling by forcing any private school that enrolls even one student receiving tuition assistance, whether through a federal scholarship tax credit program, a state tuition assistance program, or any other public subsidy, to comply with the same mandates imposed on public schools.
This bill strikes at the very heart of what makes private schools private. It would erode curriculum freedom, faculty standards, admissions policies, religious and classical identity, and covenantal educational models. The consequences are severe and far-reaching, including:
Mandatory SOL Testing – Private schools would be required to administer Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments in every grade level and every subject to all students—and absorb the full cost of testing.
“Eligibility and Compliance” Mandates – Any private school failing to meet state accreditation standards would be prohibited from enrolling new students who receive public assistance. Virginia has never required accreditation for private schools, making this a dramatic and dangerous policy shift.
Admissions and Nondiscrimination Requirements – Schools would also be required to pledge to “affirm the identities of all students while providing appropriate accommodations,” language that invites expansive regulatory enforcement and litigation.
Religious Instruction Restrictions – Schools offering religious instruction or worship would be required to provide mandatory opt-outs for any public assistance student upon request, along with alternative educational activities. This would undermine a school’s religious mission and unity.
In practice, HB 359 would coerce private schools into an impossible choice: abandon their mission and independence—or stop serving families who rely on educational assistance to access private education.
If HB 359 succeeds in forcing thousands of students into the public school system, those children will be subjected to curriculum and instructional mandates that directly conflict with many families’ deeply held value, embodied in the following bills:
HB 614 – Mandates LGBTQ Content in Classrooms
Requires public elementary and secondary school history and social science instructional materials and standards to explicitly affirm and promote individuals who are LGBTQ+ and others the Board of Education deems appropriate—embedding ideological content throughout the curriculum.
HB 236 – Keeps Pornography in School Libraries
Prevents local school boards from using current law to remove sexually explicit books from school libraries. Current law gives parents the right to opt their child out of sexually explicit materials. This bill would effectively normalize sexually explicit and pornographic content in public school libraries, over parents’ objections.
By contrast, there are bills that respect parental authority and provide age-appropriate, scientifically grounded instruction:
HB 719 – FLE Ultrasound Viewing Bill
Requires health education in Virginia public schools to include instruction on human biology and development, featuring a high-definition ultrasound video of early fetal development and a detailed computer-generated animation showing fertilization and all stages of growth in the womb.
HB 721 – Reaffirms Parental Opt-Out Rights
Establishes a fundamental parental right to opt children out of instruction involving sexual orientation, gender identity, transgenderism, or drag show themes, without penalty, and requires schools to reasonably accommodate those opt-outs.
As the General Assembly advances its agenda, the next major battleground is education—specifically, who decides how children are educated: parents or the government.
