Protecting and strengthen Virginia’s education system has been a top priority throughout my service in the General Assembly. As the parent of a child in public school, I have seen the great work of our teachers and the challenges they face firsthand, and I offer three ways the General Assembly could improve education in Virginia.
First, we must repeal the existing law that forces schools to remain closed each summer until after Labor Day. Proponents of the law believe it protects Virginia’s tourism industry. However, other tourist-dependent states, like Florida, do fine without such restrictions, and giving communities power over their own school calendars would give them the flexibility to best meet the needs of their students.
The current law does allow for weather-related waivers, which is why more than half of the state’s 132 school divisions can already set their own calendar. Unfortunately, that has created an inequity where the half denied that flexibility – including Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax – is home to a higher proportion of children who are more challenging to educate because they are poor, at-risk, or non-native English speakers.
For poor and at-risk students, there is growing evidence that the more days each summer children are out of school, the farther behind they fall compared to their peers. This “summer learning loss” has a cumulative effect, so the achievement gap becomes more difficult to address with each passing academic year. For students who are academically gifted or have unique athletic, musical, or artistic talents, the current law makes it more difficult to attend various enrichment opportunities because it pushes our school year to the end of June.
During the coming legislative session, I will sponsor legislation to repeal this restriction entirely, and also – as a fallback option – to allow the existing “innovative or experimental program” waiver (which permits the handful of year-round schools in our community to operate) to apply to entire school districts.
Second, the General Assembly must expand access to high-quality early childhood education, especially for poor children and children from non-English-speaking families. Research from the Pew Center on the States demonstrates that high-quality pre-k: increases high school graduation rates, improves standardized test scores, reduces grade repetition, reduces the number of children placed in special education, reduces crime and delinquency, lowers teen pregnancy rates, contributes to more stable families, and improves efficiency and productivity in the classroom.
If these benefits aren’t reason enough to make pre-k a priority, consider the economic case: For every one dollar invested in high-quality pre-k, taxpayers save up to seven dollars by reducing the need for remedial and special education, welfare, and criminal justice services. One study in Michigan revealed that adults who attended pre-k as children were more likely to be employed and had a 33 percent higher average income than their peers who did not have pre-k.
I am working with a group of business and community leaders and policy experts on a new idea to fund expanded access to high-quality pre-k for at-risk students using a portion of the savings pre-k generates by lessening the need for special education. Our goal to create the Alexandria Smart Beginnings Capital Partnership will require a collaborative effort between local, state, and national government, business, and community leaders. At the state level, I will propose adjustments to the Virginia Preschool Initiative to empower this effort, which we ultimately intend to be a model for communities across Virginia.
Third, with college tuition on the rise, we must do more to ensure that students have access to quality, affordable higher education. Therefore, I have been looking around the country for successful ideas we should consider here in Virginia.
Last year, Indiana enacted legislation requiring its public colleges and universities to grant college credit towards their degree to students who earn a score of three or higher on Advanced Placement tests. This includes all two- and four-year schools and any accompanying satellite schools. The public institutions of higher education may require a score higher than three to award credit for a course that is part of a student’s major, but students will still receive elective credit that counts toward their overall degree requirements to graduate from college.
Given the expanded emphasis on Advanced Placement courses and testing in high schools in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax, implementing this kind of policy for Virginia’s public institutions of higher education has the potential to effectively reduce tuition costs for many in our community. Therefore, I will put forward such legislation when the General Assembly convenes in January.
In Virginia, a quality public education is not only a good idea for a stronger shared future; it is a right enshrined in our state constitution. I look forward to working on these three ideas to improve education during the 2012 General Assembly session.
– David