Winsome Sears on fallout from Loudoun County school rape case: 'We're not putting up with it'
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R) joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the Virginia school scandal and the broader push for more parental involvement in the classroom.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R) applauded the ousting of Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler, citing her concern for kids' safety at school amid the fallout over the district's handling of two sexual assault cases.
Sears joined "Fox & Friends" on Thursday to discuss his departure and the broader push for more parental influence in the classroom.
"They did not go far enough," Sears told co-host Ainsley Earhardt. "They put a blind eye to it… That's not why we elect our leaders. We want them to protect our children. And at every step of the way, this could have not happened."
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"We're not going to have that," she continued. "We're not going to put up with it, and we need different. And the only way to get different is to vote differently. And that superintendent was let go without cause, so he got a pay raise, and now he's entitled to all of his benefits."
Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler was fired by the school board Tuesday night in response to a grand jury report on the district's handling of two sexual assaults committed by the same student.
The Northern Virginia district drew national attention last year after a father accused it at a school board meeting of covering up his daughter's sexual assault in which a biological boy wearing a skirt raped her in the girls' bathroom.
The suspect then transferred to another school in the district and assaulted another girl, and faced charges in both cases.
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The father alleged the district had attempted to cover up his daughter's assault to advance its transgender policy, which had been subject to parental protests at LCPS school board meetings.
"Some of these Democrats, they branded us," Sears said. "They said that we were against them. We were trying to make political statements on the backs of their children. No. What we now know is that there was an absolute dereliction of duty," she continued.
"The things that happened to our children and these schools should never have happened. The superintendent lied."
Sears said children were put in jeopardy because of the liberal political agenda of the Democrat-led school board.
The grand jury report released Monday said the district was looking out for its own interests instead of the best interests of its students and that the school system "failed at every juncture."
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"It's not over, the grand jury is still impaneled, so we'll see if anything comes out," Sears said. "This is why I'm putting in a bill on school choice, our parents need to be able to decide where their children should go to school. It is not the right of the government."
"This is the new Brown vs. Board of Education fight," she continued. "This is the new redlining, and we're not putting up with it any longer. It is time."
Thursday night the school board is expected to name an interim superintendent following Ziegler's ousting.
Fox News' Landon Mion contributed to this report.
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