Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

As a former teacher, I am very proud of our school system in Virginia. However, the Newport News Schools have seen the state cut over $22 million dollars since 2009 and this is simply unacceptable. As your Delegate I will fight for our fair share of funding from Richmond to ensure that our students get a world class education. I will fight to ensure teachers are paid the National average, so we can retain and recruit the best teachers.

While the Standards of Learning tests definitely need to be refined, I oppose getting rid of them altogether. The SOL testing system is important because it assures that ALL our students make progress in areas like reading and math. To me this is a basic civil rights issue, to assure each child gets equal opportunity to learn. But testing should be viewed as a tool for the adults, not as a way to punish children. Children should not face "high stakes" testing that would cause them to be held back a grade or cause their school to lose accreditation. Test results should be used by educators to improve instruction in the classroom and to assign resources in a school system, not to punish individual children or schools.

If elected to the General Assembly, I will push for reforms to our education system that benefit working families and provide more opportunities to our children. Our school day schedule should be reorganized to better match the schedules of working parents. In low income communities this might mean longer school days or summer intersessions so that children do not fall behind their higher income peers in reading and math. Increasing the number of children in Pre-K programs will also improve outcomes for students and build our Virginia workforce over time. We need to find creative ways to improve the teaching profession by increasing pay for those willing to pursue advanced certifications and leadership roles. The teaching profession has become too flat and we need to find ways to make it more rewarding with opportunities for advancement for those excellent teachers who stay in the classroom.

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