Scheme would siphon money needed for public schools

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s announcement to allocate $150 million to establish 20 new charter schools may not sound alarming, but a closer look reveals a plan that will reduce per-pupil state funding of public schools and is rooted in Virginia’s segregationist history.

During the 2022 Virginia General Assembly session, 14 bills were introduced that would cut local public-school funding by redirecting it to charter schools and tax-free savings programs that enable wealthy parents to bypass the public school system at other taxpayers’ expense. At a time when we should be looking to shore up our struggling public schools and help Virginia’s families recover from the effects of a pandemic, the bills’ supporters are instead focused on funneling taxpayers’ money to profit-driven corporations that have been proven to run mediocre schools for an exclusive set of students.

Tuition vouchers have a long and racist history in Virginia that is familiar to the members of the American Association of University Women of Virginia (AAUW-VA). Establishment of the Virginia Division in 1925 was based on the founders’ ardent belief that high-quality public education is the foundation of a democratic society and the key to economic prosperity, college and career readiness, and gender equity. Most of the founding members were educators, one of the few professions open to women at the time.

As early as 1933, AAUW-VA members were raising concerns about the lack of public education facilities for Virginia’s “mountain children,” and over the years we have advocated for public school funding to improve facilities, curricula, pay and working conditions for Virginia’s educators.

From 1954-64, during Virginia’s period of “Massive (and Passive) Resistance,” AAUW-VA annually adopted a resolution that opposed Massive Resistance and fought against tuition grants for students in private, non-sectarian schools. Around the state, branch members regarded them as publicly funded “escape valves” for white families who wanted to enroll their children in “segregation academies.”

In 1965, the Supreme Court Green v. County School Board of New Kent County decision overturned Virginia’s “freedom of choice” plans for localities and families who wanted to circumvent the desegregation requirements of the Brown v. Board of Education decision by choosing the schools their children would attend. Tuition grants weren’t abolished until 1969.

In the Green case, the court asserted that local school boards had an “affirmative” duty to desegregate and that, in doing so, they could not place the burden on Black schoolchildren and parents. Today, some politicians seek to reverse those decisions and give some families “school choice” by placing public school funding burdens on the Virginia citizens who have the least ability to pay.

Just imagine what it would mean for our public schools if the energy devoted to giving every family a choice in their child’s education through charter schools went to improving the system that already serves most of Virginia’s families.

Much needs to be done, and nearly all of it requires more funding: better pay for teachers and staff, more program choices, better opportunities for students with disabilities, and addressing our schools’ aging and crumbling infrastructure. These would mean more equitable opportunities for all of Virginia’s students and families, not just for those with the ability to pay.

Parents already have “choice” about their public schools: They elect their local school board officials and have opportunities to speak out through a myriad of civic and advocacy organizations, such as AAUW-VA and the PTA. They can educate themselves about how our schools are funded and seek change through their elected representatives.

Our public schools bring neighborhoods and communities together, leading to a stronger and more prosperous commonwealth. Weakening them through cuts to state funding and redirection to profit-motivated charter schools is not the answer.

Let’s all choose to make Virginia’s public schools and communities better and stronger through more funding opportunities, not fewer.