VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE KEN CUCCINELLI TO UNVEIL K - 12 EDUCATION PLAN

VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE KEN CUCCINELLI TO UNVEIL K - 12 EDUCATION PLAN

By Fredrick Kunkle, August 13, 2013, Washington Post

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II unveiled a 12-point education plan on Tuesday that would push for charter schools, offer voucher-like scholarships for preschoolers and empower a majority of parents to close down, convert or overhaul their children’s failing school, according to an outline of his K-12 education plan.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate wants to double the number of female students who focus on science and technology, widen the use of virtual schooling and expand on the commonwealth’s nearly two-year-old law that gives tax credits to donors who provide voucher-like scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools. Cuccinelli also would seek two amendments to Virginia’s constitution, including one that would clear the way for government funds to flow to religious schools.

Cuccinelli, who is the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, unveiled his education policies Tuesday in Richmond during a campaign stop at the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies. Several of his proposals are intended to address the achievement gap among some minority students and chronically underperforming schools in jurisdictions such as Petersburg and Norfolk.

“Try telling folks in Petersburg, where 30 percent of students fail the reading test for Virginia’s SOL’s [standardized tests], that Virginia’s education system is one of the best in the world,” Cuccinelli told a group of students and educators gathered at the school. “Just 59 percent of Petersburg students graduate on time versus 82 percent in the rest of Virginia. That kind of disparity is something that concerns me on behalf of just those children and on behalf of Virginia.”

Cuccinelli is running against former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe in a governor’s race that has attracted national attention, not only because of the lack of other competitive matchups but because of its occasionally caustic tone.

The package of reforms contained in Cuccinelli’s K-12 education plan include several that have gained in popularity in recent years, especially among conservatives, though the efficacy of some of the initiatives has been disputed. The proposals — organized around principles of “empowerment,” “opportunity” and “accountability” — would generally push Virginia in the direction of so-called school choice and private or community-based solutions to the problem of public education.

The idea of allowing parents to mount a petition to close or dramatically remake their children’s failing school, for example — known as a trigger law — has caught on among an unlikely coalition of progressives and conservatives seeking to reform the nation’s schools.

Backers say a parent takeover is a radical but necessary step to turn around chronically poor-performing schools. But opponents believe trigger laws could backfire when well-meaning but untrained people take on the complexities of running a school and could open the way to abuses by private charter school companies hoping to take over public schools.

Cuccinelli’s educational platform includes establishing a new panel to consist of academics, parents, principals, leaders, educators and students — whose acronym, the plan says, would make it the APPLES Commission — that would review Virginia’s Standards of Learning system and search for ways to strengthen the curriculum and testing. The plan says the committee would operate under the Virginia Board of Education to formulate recommendations by Nov. 1, 2014, for the General Assembly. Among its aims would be to find ways to emphasize problem-solving and cognitive abilities in testing more than memorization.

Cuccinelli’s plan calls for using tax credits to create scholarships for preschoolers from low-income families to attend private preschools, including those sponsored by religious organizations. The plan notes that the Virginia Preschool Initiative already provides assistance for low-income families through matching funds to localities. But, the plan says, many localities fail to come up with the matching funds because of a lack of money or facilities.

Cuccinelli’s plan also urges creating an A-to-F ranking system for colleges that offer education programs to train teachers and revising teacher requirements.

His proposed constitutional amendments both aim to broaden the cause of school choice.

The first would remove a provision in the state constitution that bans government aid to sectarian schools. Known as the Blaine Amendment, the measure first appeared about a century ago when the country’s Protestant majority sought to block government support for Catholic schools. It ultimately became law in nearly 40 states. Cuccinelli’s K-12 education plan says that despite a June 2000 decision by U.S. Supreme Court that found school choice programs to be constitutional, the Blaine Amendment in Virginia’s constitution restricts the state’s ability to craft broad-based school choice programs.

The second proposed amendment would address what Cuccinelli’s plan says is “one of the most useless charter school laws in the country.” Although such schools are permitted under existing law, they must be approved by the district.

Cuccinelli’s proposed amendment would give the state Board of Education the power to establish charter schools. Cuccinelli’s proposal is similar to a measure sponsored by Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) that was narrowly defeated this year in the Virginia Senate. Obenshain is running to succeed Cuccinelli as attorney general.

“This creates a conflict of interest as school districts do not want competition,” the plan says. “It’s like Pepsi having to get permission from the Board of Directors of Coca-Cola to sell a new product.”

Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.