Saxman to unveil school choice group today
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Later this afternoon in Richmond, Del. Chris Saxman is set to announce the formation of “School Choice Virginia”, a non-profit organization that will advocate for legislative reforms in education, both at the state and local level, and increase awareness about the importance of school choice initiatives across the state.
The non-partisan group already has bi-partisan support. Saxman will be joined to make his announcement by former DC councilman and noted education reformer, Kevin Chavous. Chavous founded the organization Democrats for education reform.
With the Standards of Learning acting as a foundation for a good start at ensuring students continue receiving quality education, school choice is a logical next step. Every child’s educational needs are not necessarily the same, and affording a child’s family the opportunity to seek out a program that best meets their needs makes a lot of sense.
While there is sure to be a competitive nature to school choice, (after all, there is a free market variable embedded in the concept — choice), hopefully teacher’s unions and other opponents take an honest and thoughtful approach to the organization and its advocacy; the reality is that wanting what’s best for the family and the kids is at the heart of any school choice program.
I’m curious to know if this is just school choice, where parents get to choose what school their children go to, or does this also advocate vouchers?
I’m all about letting parents choose where to send their kids to school, but I’m hardcore against vouchers b/c if a “private” school accepts them, by definition, they are no longer private.
Do you know if this is also a voucher program?
I did some research and it looks like it may just be tax credits, which is not bad at all.
Brian,
I’m pretty sure the organization is dedicated to seeking several different legislative routes as it relates to school choice: vouchers, tax credits, administrative process, etc. all are likely to be considered, while, in the end, the ultimate goal being that more flexibility and freedom are given to families to make choices for what’s in the best interest of their student.
You had me until you said the SOLs were a foundation. Ths SOLs should be the first thing scrapped. We need local control, choice and a return to classical education…
I’ve certainly nothing against open-enrollment options, though its arguable whether they truly have any impact on outcomes. I’m not a fan of vouchers though (shock of shocks) or any system which depletes the resources avaiable for public education. I’m with John Adams on this one:
Jeremy,
Who’s arguing against that point?
Vouchers and school choice, in fact, has its greatest support amongst those that have been hardest hit by the failures of public schools.
Vouchers suffer from the same flaw as Bush’s proposed “fix” for social security. By pushing an “end run” around the system, they do nothing but defund and exacerbate the problems in the system they were created to help, instead of actually attempting to address them. I do like the fact that vouchers may cause increased experimentation with alternative teaching paradigms (Montessori and such) in public systems. But i think there are better ways to push such reforms that do not threaten our public education system. Public education is one area where i think its better to subsidize production than consumption.
I spent years K-12 in Norfolk’s public school system, and don’t think myself poorly served by the experience.
I think you were.
I love the left. They support incentives for alternative fuels but oppose incentives for alternative education.
That makes about as much sense as saying that the right should support alternative lifestyles since they support alternative education.
In my view, school vouchers are a civil rights issue. Vouchers can give poor children a chance at getting a decent education. The Democratic Party should endorse school choice as a matter of basic fairness.
I support the public school system but oppose a “one size fits all” approach to education. There has always been a public-private partnership in educating our children. Giving low-income parents a choice can help to improve the quality of public education while increasing the diversity of private schols.
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