CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Saying that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has plans to defund public education if she’s elected governor, area Democrats spoke in front of city hall on Wednesday, attacking the Republican nominee’s position on shifting funding from public to private schools.
“We’ve worked hard in the state Senate and the House of Delegates to create opportunity for every student of every age in Virginia,” Sen. Creigh Deeds said. “While we’ve had to fend off attacks from Republicans who want to take away the investments our schools need to operate, we’ve been able to protect public education in Virginia. But that progress is at risk.”
Deeds was joined by Delegates Katrina Callsen and Amy Laufer and Charlottesville mayor Juandiego Wade. Holding signs that warned, “Winsome Earle-Sears wants to defund public education,” and with Lauffer donning a red t-shirt that said “I love public education,” the group pointed to funding cuts directed by the current administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Earle-Sears.
“We know slashing funding will only hurt our community,” Laufer said. “And we know that Winsome Earle-Sears has voted to not only slash funding, but allow public school funds to be used in private schools.”
Laufer also blasted Earle-Sears support of President Donald Trump’s executive order dismantling the Department of Education.
Both Laufer and Callsen are both former teachers and school board members. Callsen said seeing the struggles of her parents, who both dropped out of high school, is what drove her to teach and enter politics.
Callsen said Youngkin’s administration has failed to help the Commonwealth’s schools rebound from the lost learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Republicans got elected on pandemic learning recovery,” Callsen said. “For middle school math, we’re ranked last in the nation for pandemic educational recovery. And we’re not much different for reading. I think we’re 41st. The facts speak for themselves under a Republican administration.”
John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, said Wednesday that he has a clear plan when it comes to education, one that emphasizes returning discipline to public schools. During a 20-minute exclusive interview with Cville Right Now, Reid said he supports having school uniforms, student resource police officers in schools and regular standardized testing.
“I unveiled a basic plan for restoring discipline and breaking up the system that is not working at the moment or at least offering alternatives to the government schools that are failing,” Reid said. “I know my opponent thinks we need to spend another $6 billion to fully fund public education in Virginia. We’re already spending 21 billion in the two year budget and that’s double what we were spending what six years ago I think you can spend another 20 billion and until you get discipline in the classroom and a curriculum focus it won’t matter how much money you spend.”
Like Earle-Sears, Reid said he supports the use of public money for private schools to create “portability” and choices for parents about where they want to send their children to school.
He also said he is opposed to what he sees as roadblocks for home schooling that Democrats have put in place.
Reid said, if elected, he’d like to study how that best plays out, potentially through tax credits or vouchers.
“What that looks like at the end, I don’t wanna try to dictate that and get boxed in, because I know they’re a lot of different ideas,” Reid said. “One of the things I want to do is to go to the capital and try to get smart people, thoughtful people who agree about the end goal in a room, close the door, don’t call the press, don’t posture for everybody. Let’s figure out how to make this work. So that kids and families can have some options.”
Earle-Sears campaign did not respond to a request for comment about her positions on public education.
Her website includes a heading that reads, “Give every child a quality education.”
“No child should be stuck in an underperforming school because of their zip code or their parent’s income level,” the website reads under that heading. “As governor, Winsome will empower parents to choose the best school for their children so every child gets a quality education. She will prioritize parents’ rights and basic reading and math skills over ideological grandstanding. With Winsome in charge, Virginia’s education system will once again be the envy of the country.”
Wednesday morning, Earle-Sears posted a message on social media referencing Loudoun County’s school board’s policy that allows students who identify as a certain gender to use the corresponding restroom.
“Abigail Spanberger supports the radical Loudoun School Board’s push to allow boys in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms,” Earle-Sears posted on X. “If she cared about Virginia’s parents or daughters, she’d reject this insanity and the extremists endangering our kids.”
She posted twice more about the topic later in the morning and early afternoon.
Deeds, Laufer and Callsen said that those issues should be decided locally, by elected boards of educations, and not dictated by the federal government.
“When your educational platform is mentioning bathrooms as opposed to academic success and achievement, then I have a problem,” Callsen said.
