Letter to Editor: Candidate doesn’t represent values of schools, Mount Vernon District
Editor,
Steven Mosley is what is known as a “stealth” candidate: he is running ostensibly on issues related to education, but in fact has an extreme social and educational agenda in his back pocket.
His public campaign centers around opposing boundary changes and ending the achievement gap by bringing charter schools to Fairfax County. He quotes an article that purports to show that minority parents favor “school choice.”
But in his interview with Republican Party Vice-chair Matthew Truong, he says:
“The real issue for me was FLE (Family Life Education). My introduction to the Fairfax County School Board was I heard they were changing the FLE.”
He appears to have as his main goal on the school board to bring an extremely conservative, anti-LGBTQ agenda to Fairfax County Public Schools. Indications that this is his purpose include:
- The above-mentioned interview, in which he and the interviewer spend more than ten minutes describing transgender students as a threat
- His repeated retweeting and posting of articles from the Family Research Council, which is one of the best funded and most avid anti-LGBTQ, anti-ERA advocacy groups in the United States (the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated FRC as one of a few major anti-LGBTQ hate groups in the country)
- Attending the Gala for Concerned Women for America (another SPLC-designated hate group).
But, most alarming, he boasts of his signature on the “Nashville Statement.” The Nashville Statement is a collection of anti-LGBTQ broadsides which include this paragraph: “Article 7 WE DENY that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption.” That is, God does not accept LGBTQ people.
It appears that Steven Mosley will only be a school board member for some students and families. He seeks to rile up animosity towards transgender students, some of the most vulnerable students in our schools; this opposition to the very existence of transgender students and people are, in his own words, the original reason for his running for school board.
Steven Mosley’s narrow world view does not represent the values of Fairfax County Public Schools and the Mount Vernon District. His election would be a great step backwards for our county.
Robert Rigby
President, FCPS Pride
Our democracy must remain the highest and best expression of our collective humanity and our nation’s diversity is our promise, not our problem. Candidate Moseley casts himself as an agent for change by bringing up wedge issues for a soap box to virtue signal by fixing blame on groups or individuals in a school system that has dramatically diversified. Mount Vernon citizens know that society must foster basic decency: good parenting, respect for law, and tolerance for all. The contempt and animosity of virtue politics aimed at groups through campaign rhetoric focuses on school boundaries and under-performing schools as proxies for issues of class and identity. Dividing citizens only undermines the social cohesion necessary for the universal social provision of our schools.
I directly asked Candidate Mosley his views on teaching evolution in our public schools. He stated he did not object, if the theory of creationism were taught with the theory of evolution. This reminds me when then Congressman Mike Pence said that “evolution should be taught as a theory not fact”. Downplaying evolution or offering nonscientific alternatives in public schools’ compromises science education. For youth to succeed in today’s scientifically sophisticated world, students need a sound education in science. Today’s fast-growing and high-paying jobs require a familiarity with the core concepts, applications, and implications of science. To make informed decisions about public policies, people need to know how scientific evidence supports those policies and whether that evidence was gathered using well-established scientific practice and principles.
Given the importance of science in all aspects of modern life, the science curriculum should not be undermined with nonscientific material. Teaching creationist ideas in science classes confuses what constitutes science and what does not. It compromises the objectives of public education and the goal of a high-quality science education.
In our long and great history as a nation, the practice of virtue politics has many times led to the stigmatization of “the other” creating many unnecessary divisions in our society and impeding progress. Not a difficult choice come November 5th
I completely agree with this assessment. The first time I heard from Mosley was at a candidate forum some weeks ago and was deeply troubled that any time he answered a question his response was prefaced with the statement “I am a Christian.” In this country anyone has a right to their faith, but for someone running for public office to indicate they will use very sectarian teachings of their faith as a basis for setting public policy is deeply disturbing. This is troubling for any school system, but for a school system as diverse as Fairfax County’s it is even more problematic. If people want their children to get a sectarian religious education, they should send them to a religious school. Mosley sounds like he should be auditioning to be on the board of a religious school, rather than on the board of a taxpayer funded public school system.
Additionally, his attacks on the LGBT community are deeply troubling. Candidates that seek to win elections by attacking and demeaning transgender students, among the most vulnerable students with among the highest suicide rates in society, are despicable.
I found it amazing when Mosley indicated that he believes in equity for black students but not LGBT students. It was shocking to hear that. A school Board member needs to be willing to stand up for all students. Mosley is totally unqualified to fill that role.
Karen Corbett Sanders has worked full-time for our students and has accomplished much in her four years on the School Board. She clearly deserves another term. The right choice for our children in this election could not be more clear.
The main issue I have with Mr. Mosley is he has zero track record. As far as I know, he has never even been in any of the Mount Vernon schools. He has never spoken about any visits or time spent in any of our wonderful schools and has only lived in Mount Vernon for a few years. I want a candidate who knows these schools inside and out. There is no time for a learning curve with all the development coming to our area. Karen has been on top of all these issues, works hard for our students, and has the accomplishment list to prove it. I asked for a similar list of accomplishments from Mr. Mosley and he could not produce one.
I work every single day amidst dedicated, diverse, and caring folks who sincerely want the best for the kids enrolled at my school. I must second Mr. Rigby’s informative and timely letter. To think a candidate with such an uninformed agenda could even be on the school board ballot saddens me. As a science teacher I know first-hand how corrosive and counter-productive creationism and its step-child “intelligent” design can be on a student’s ability to understand how science actually works. At the opening of each day we must allow all students to feel welcome and safe. By the close of each day our collective work should make each student a little more caring of others different from themselves and self-aware of the impact their words and deeds have on others. We need elected officials with mindsets grounded in reality, not religious dogma.
Ed Chapman
West Potomac High School
FCPS is a complex diverse school district. I have advocated for our local schools for three decades… we have excellent schools and excellent teachers
and diverse student demographics. The answered to meeting the needs of our diverse students is not simplistic. I want Karen Corbett-Sanders to represent our community! Karen has the knowledge, the ethics and the leadership skills to help our schools meet the needs of all students. We’re fortunate she’s willing to serve as our School Board Member. Karen is a local woman, having graduated from Groveton High School and she’s an experienced proven leader. As our representative on the School Board she listens..,. She’s a full time, action oriented leader – Karen builds collaboration among Board leaders and has lead the effort to promote Equity Issues. I have admired her hard work on behalf of our students and families and she will have my vote on November 5th.