From Virginia for Educational Freedom.
Lt. Governor Winsome Sears has spoken out in favor of School Choice once again, this time as the Virginia General Assembly heads into a special session to squabble over the budget and facial recognition technology for law enforcement. Sears targets Democrats in her talk on Fox & Friends, but the reality is that the Republicans were a roadblock to School Choice, too.
Not a single School Choice bill passed the Virginia General Assembly this year, and the House Republicans only managed to send a weak Education Savings Account bill (fraught with government strings and narrow eligibility) to the Senate, who promptly killed it in committee anyway.
That hasn’t stopped RINOs like Delegate Glenn Davis from publicly claiming to be for “parental choice” in education–and yes, we’ve got the receipts–which we all know is just political doublespeak since he single-handedly killed HB 982, the Educational Freedom Act, as chairman of the House Education Committee.
Career politicians have no desire to rock the boat and disturb the status quo. They don’t want to shake up the bureaucratic class within the government’s educational monopoly. They certainly don’t want to make any of them jobless. As school systems around the state give six-figure salaries with cushy benefits to “Equity Officers” and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside diversity consultants and GLSEN training materials, Virginia politicians are trying to figure out how they can do as little as possible while still painting themselves as pro-parental rights and pro-school choice.
Our politicians do not have the right to feel comfortable in their seats of power as they DO NOTHING to help Virginia families escape the government monopoly on education. Governor Glenn Youngkin can afford to send his children to fancy private schools, but most Virginians can’t, especially as wages stay stagnant and inflation keeps rising.
There are some easy things you can do to help rattle the do-nothing politicians and remind them of who it is they truly serve, rather than their own pockets and political careers:
1. As Congressional candidates start asking for your support, ask them if they support School Choice and if they would introduce legislation empowering parents with education funds. Force the conversation. Don’t let the politicians decide what it is you’re supposed to care about.
2. Click HERE to send an email to the House Republicans telling them that you are tired of the half-measures and lukewarm attitude towards School Choice that we all saw last session. Demand an expansion of the EISTC and the creation of an ESA program that provides universal eligibility and NO GOVERNMENT STRINGS ATTACHED.
3. Contact Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and thank her for bringing the educational conversation back where it belongs – School Choice. Her email address is ltgov@ltgov.virginia.gov
4. Sign our School Choice petition if you have not done so already and share it with your friends and family.
5. Donate to Virginia for Educational Freedom so we can continue to push for School Choice and put the pressure on the politicians, because they will do NOTHING without immense amounts of pressure.
In other news, the Loudoun County School Board and certain LCPS staff members were served on March 22, 2022 with my civil complaint against them for violating Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.
They are now trying to have my case against them dismissed.
Fun times ahead.
Natassia Grover
Director
Virginia for Educational Freedom
“The idea of school choice is spreading like wildfire around the country, because it’s the one education reform that puts real choices and real opportunities in the hands of families who desperately need them.”
~ Justice Clint Bolick, Arizona Supreme Court