Virginia High School Senior Joins RSLC Podcast To Discuss Negative Impacts Of School Closures
The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) today released a new episode of its podcast “It’s Bigger Than You Think,” featuring an interview with Tori Davis, a senior at Page County High School in Virginia. During the conversation, Tori addressed the disastrous impact school closures are having on students and families, discussed being unprepared for life after graduation, and praised the leadership of Virginia Republicans like Todd Gilbert for trying to immediately open schools.
Virginia state Democrats have continually sided with their teachers union backers and blocked Republican efforts to immediately open schools, opposing adding an emergency clause to the recently passed reopening bill that will not get kids back into the classroom until the summer. A stunning report by the National Review in February even exposed that Virginia teachers unions have exchanged thousands of emails with Democrats on the subject of school reopenings, and that the lawmakers in question have launched a coordinated effort to conceal their correspondence with the unions from the public.
As the National Review revealed,
“While Virginia’s teachers unions have been vocal regarding their worries about returning to school, and their disapproval of the school reopening bill (SB 1303), new documents obtained by National Review show the unions also have engaged in an intense behind-the-scenes pressure campaign to influence Democratic state lawmakers over the reopening issue. Over just the past few months, the unions have combined to send thousands of emails to Democratic House delegates about school-reopening plans. And so far, the lawmakers have refused to release the vast majority of the emails, citing a state law that allows them to shield their correspondence from the public.”
“It’s Bigger Than You Think,” which is released bi-weekly at 2 PM ET and is available on Spotify, Anchor, and Youtube, contains in-depth discussions with current and former state Republicans, national thought leaders, and top political strategists about the outsized impact state government has on the everyday lives of all Americans.
Click here to watch the full interview.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Tori on Democrats Shutting Down Initiative to Reopen Schools Immediately
“Todd Gilbert took it [school reopenings] to the state legislature and Democrats instantly shut it down.”
Tori When Asked if She’s Prepared for Life After Graduation
“Absolutely not. We lost the social interactions that are so important for being successful. It’s a lot of physical and mental barriers that we all now have to face. It doesn’t feel like the school cares, so why should we care?”
Tori on Seniors Being Passed for the Bare Minimum
“Page [County High School] is lowering the standards because they automatically gave us 50% [grades] to push up through. Some of the skills we need, we aren’t learning them. If we aren’t getting the right learning experiences, then students are floundering.”
Tori on the Mental Impact of School Closures
“If they’re suffering with mental illness… at such a young age then how is this going to impact us when we reach are early 20’s, our 30’s? How are we going to raise our kids?”
