Terry McAuliffe slammed for hypocrisy after praising Virginia’s public schools four kids private

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has been branded a hypocrite for praising his state’s public education system despite sending four of his five children to private high schools. 

‘We have a great school system in Virginia. Dorothy and I have raised our five children,’ McAuliffe declared on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday

One of McAuliffe’s sons went to Gonzaga College High School, in Washington D.C. where tuition costs around $25,000 a year. 

Three other children attended The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia where fees are almost double at $45,650 per year for high school. His youngest child currently attends a public school in Langley, Virginia. 

‘Rules for thee but not for me applies to SO MUCH’, one user on Twitter wrote, pointing out the hypocrisy. 

Education in the state has become a flashpoint in the runup to Tuesday’s election between McAuliffe and his Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin, who has been surging in the polls despite big-name backing for the Democrat in a state Joe Biden easily won.

McAuliffe and Youngkin have feuded over how much influence parental involvement should have in curriculum development, with the Democrat saying he believes such decisions should be left to educators rather than parents. 

Youngkin has accused the school system of teaching Critical Race Theory to children. 

Last month, McAuliffe said publicly he would not ‘let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions.’ 

‘I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,’ McAuliffe said on September 29 at a gubernatorial debate. 

But his position irked many on social media, who noted the hypocrisy in McAuliffe’s   comments compared to his actions. 

‘Terry McAuliffe exclusively attended private schools. He sent his kids to private schools. I’m glad his family had those opportunities. But why does he fight against school choice for others?’ asked Corey A. DeAngelis. 

‘Why did he say great schools and we raised them here insinuating he knows first hand? That is the deceit people ignore from this guy and the tow the line media not stating such ‘facts,’ asked another commenter online.

‘Terry McAuliffe typical Dem hypocrite. Promote failing education for others. You all send your children to private schools. School choice for everyone @GlennYoungkin unless our educational system is improved,’ tweeted Anna.

‘He is a hypocrite. Just like all dems. What’s good for thee….’ wrote another user. 

During his final term as governor of Virginia in 2016, McAuliffe vetoed three bills that would have expanded school choice in the Commonwealth.

He claimed allowing parents to take education dollars allocated for their children to the best possible school for them would send ‘the wrong signal’ about public education.

At the time, it gave the impression that although he had the means to send his own children to the best schools money can buy, he didn’t want less privileged Virginia families to have the same opportunity. 

Earlier in September, McAuliffe said at the State of the State that critical race theory is not being taught in Virginia schools and that it is a ‘made up’ plan to ‘divide people’ and that it ‘really bothered’ him. 

‘Let’s just be clear: We don’t teach critical race theory. This is a made-up – this is a Trump-Betsy DeVos-Glenn Youngkin plan to divide people.’ 

When the politician was asked to define critical race theory in an interview, McAuliffe said: ‘It doesn’t matter, it’s not taught here in Virginia.’   

‘We should not be dividing people in schools,’ he explained. 

The Democrat slammed his Republican counterpart by saying: ‘Glenn Youngkin uses education to divide Virginia,’ he said at a rally. ‘He wants to bring his personal culture wars into our classrooms.’