Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

Educating for our Future: Protecting our Quality of Life.

* Fairfax County schools are the best in the Nation and I will do everything in my power to help keep them that way. It is critical that we give our teachers and students the resources they need to succeed. Also, we have to make sure schools are a place where kids feel safe so they can focus on achieving their goals.
* Quality Schools are important to our economic future and a key part of our economy today. Our good schools are one of the reasons we have historically had such strong property values. We all have a vested interest in quality public schools because an investment in education is an investment in our children, community, homes and future.

Working for Education: Dave's Proven Record

* Led the fight in the State Senate to restore more than $450 million in funding to local schools -- and won that fight!
* Voted to increase teacher pay without raising taxes.
* Voted to cut taxes for families with Virginia College Savings Plans.
* Created the National Association of Counties award winning Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center School, giving troubled kids the opportunity to create a better future for themselves.
* Passed a law to fund youth mentoring programs in Fairfax County so students have a safe place during and after school.
* Supported a law to require notification when a a student has been convicted of a violent crime, and to crack down on bullying.
* Co-Sponsored legislation to lower College textbook costs to students and families, because skyrocketing textbook costs have become a barrier to higher education.
* Voted to create a Scholarship matching program for Virginia residents at Virginia community colleges pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, math, education or nursing.

Protecting our Quality Schools: Dave's Plan

* The key is to cut administrative and bureaucratic waste, while protecting critical classroom funding. We must stretch our resources, increase efficiency and provide the best education possible to our students.
* We must ensure competitive teacher salaries so that we don't lose our top teachers to places like Montgomery County. Fairfax County students and teachers deserve the best.
* We must also ensure that enough spots are reserved for qualified Fairfax County students at the University of Virginia and other public colleges and universities.

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