Congress is Grilling the Right School Superintendent—I Know Firsthand
Aaron Spence represents how public school bureaucrats dismiss parental rights and push indoctrination.
Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) Superintendent Aaron Spence has been summoned to speak before the Congressional Committee on Education and Workforce on June 10. The topic is "Superintendents Breaking Trust in America's Schools."
I know first-hand that Congress picked the perfect person to question on the topic.
As an elected member of the Virginia Beach School Board for eight years—more than six of them during Aaron Spence's tenure as our district's superintendent—I witnessed his leadership up close. I sat in the minority on the board the entire time, which meant I had little sway over decisions. I was outvoted but refused to be silenced. I spoke up to expose what was really happening inside the district.
Spence was the reason I ran for office in 2016 after he implemented regulations I found harmful for my children. After he refused to meet with me as a parent to hear my concerns, it solidified my determination to run for school board and make a positive impact. I detailed my experiences with Spence during my two terms on the school board in my book Behind the Wall of Government Schools. He left for LCPS during my second term in office where he continues to be embroiled in controversy.
Questions for Spence
The congressional committee will be questioning Spence regarding "Attacks on Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content, and Legal Abuses in America's Schools."
One of the questions Congress should press Spence about is the use of taxpayer-funded communications staff to shape public perception. Buried in the Virginia Beach Public Schools' communication department's job description was a telling phrase: "controlling the division narrative." Congress should ask Spence what that narrative control looks like. In my book, I document misleading and false narratives provided to the media by the communication's department. The mainstream media largely reported what they were given by the school division without scrutiny—leaving parents and taxpayers in the dark about what was really going on.
Spence's highly compensated Chief Communications Officer, Natalie Allen, along with several other bureaucrats, followed Spence from Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) to LCPS where they continue to control the narrative.
Government institutions should be transparent to the community they serve, not deceiving taxpayers with a "narrative." Spence wanted to have full control, but I was a thorn in his side because I put a spotlight on issues happening behind the scenes.
For example, in 2020, when the Virginia governor was planning a phased re-opening of schools during COVID, Spence sent a letter to the state superintendent, upset that parents were being given the ability to "lobby their school board" to get their kids back into school. Spence didn't want parents to have that control, and I was pushing hard as a school board member to get students back into the classroom. That was one of the many battles I had with Aaron Spence.
Congress should ask him why he and other superintendents don't want parents to have a voice in decision-making.
Inappropriate Content
Congress should also question Spence about why he supports explicit materials being used in schools. In 2022, I learned about dozens of sexually explicit books in school libraries throughout our district—including in my child's school. When I brought the graphic novel series Saga to the attention of the school principal, he was shocked that it was in the library and immediately removed it. It had graphic images of orgies and sexual slavery. I got a different response when I called for Spence to remove such books district-wide—he refused.
When I challenged Spence at a school board meeting over pornographic books I found in the schools, he lost his temper and yelled at me, apparently forgetting that he worked for the elected school board and not the other way around. He objected to my use of the word "pornographic," insisting the books were merely "explicit." The difference in the terms was simply semantics—books that depicted sex acts have no place in the hands of minors. By refusing to remove them, Spence made his position clear.
One book I brought to Spence's attention was called Gender Queer—a graphic novel picturing people having oral sex. In a memo to me, Spence's Chief Academic Officer admitted they had "concerns about some of the graphic depictions in the book" but ultimately recommended keeping the book in school libraries. The book was too graphic for even the left-leaning school board, which ultimately agreed with me and removed the book—overriding Spence's decision to keep it.
The issue of sexually explicit books in schools was not only about protecting children but also parental rights. Most parents, including me (a school board member), had no idea these books were available to their children at school. Spence's argument was that parents could simply opt-out their children from reading these books. How can parents opt out of something they don't know exists?
Racist Propaganda
Another topic the congressional committee should question Spence about is divisive teacher trainings pushed in school divisions.
Spence participated in a webinar in 2022 titled "Why a Racial Equity Lens is Essential." In it, he admitted racial identity and what he considered injustices were being addressed in the curriculum.
These divisive topics were also pushed in teacher training programs in the district.
When I was on the Virginia Beach School Board, a distraught teacher called me with concerns over training sessions in her school. She and at least twenty-six other teachers were pushed into participating in a book study titled The Racial Healing Handbook. Not only did the book promote the demeaning notion of white privilege, but it also belittled Christians. It claimed Christian privilege "is a hallmark of religious/spiritual privilege" and instructed teachers how to reduce their religious privilege. The book study also decried "adultism," defining it as "the oppression of children, adolescents, and those who are perceived as young in society. Adultism manifests in the idea that children and adolescents must be controlled and don't have agency over their own bodies and decisions." In other words, teachers were taught that children should have the freedom to make their own decisions without adult interference.
When I shared my concerns with Spence about the book study, he simply said it was "put on pause" after I made it public.
The Racial Healing Handbook wasn't the only racist training in the division. Another one brought to my attention by a teacher called "Advancing Equity Through Continuous Reflection," was mandatory for all literacy coaches. The training centered around controversial author Ibram X. Kendi and pushed the narrative that teachers should reflect on their inherent racism and admit their guilt. One video session instructed teachers that "our society speaks racism; it has spoken racism since we were born; of course you are racist."
The training was supported by Spence's first-ever diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) director, LaQuiche Parrott, who publicly proclaimed the propaganda of white privilege. During a school board meeting Parrott said, "we have to come to a place in Virginia Beach where our teachers, and our leaders, and our school board, and our viewing public understand that when we talk about privilege . . . it's about acknowledging what it is, what is privilege, the rights you have solely because of the color of your skin."
Spence raised no objections to these remarks made in the public meeting.
My book, Behind the Wall of Government Schools, details more about these trainings and inappropriate content pushed in the school division. It also shines a light on outside employment Spence had without the knowledge or approval of the full school board.
Since Aaron Spence left VBCPS, he has faced serious scrutiny on a multitude of issues. These include failing to properly notify parents about student drug overdoses and punishing boys who raised concerns when a girl who identified as a boy was allowed in the male locker room.
The June 10 hearing is about more than Aaron Spence—he's just one example of how administrators across the nation treat parental rights as an obstacle rather than a foundation. Parents have the right to know and control what their children read and are taught. Citizens have the right to expect honesty and transparency, not misleading narratives, from institutions funded by their tax dollars. Congress should make clear that America's schools belong to the families they serve, not to the bureaucrats who run them.
Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. She is the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served 8 years as an elected school board member and has a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse to her reporting.
Republished with permission from Restoration News.
