In the News
Richmond Times-Dispatch- Choice Proponents Play a Solid Game
By A. Barton Hinkle
August 21, 2009
Del. Chris Saxman has been championing school choice for years, so he answers the standard criticisms of choice proposals with the celerity of a chess grandmaster going through the motions of the Ruy Lopez.
Don’t vouchers and tuition tax credits drain money from the public schools? No — carefully constructed, they would actually increase per-pupil funding for public K-12, he explains.
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The New Dominion- A parent’s right to choose
By Chris Graham
July 20, 2009
“So in Saxman’s mind, parents would not only be able to apply vouchers or tax credits to private-school tuitions but to public-school tuitions as well. “Parents have a right to say, Just because I live in this neighborhood, this is my school? I get to have a choice, because I don’t pay taxes to that school, but I pay into the universe of local, state and federal tax collectors. I deserve the chance to say, Today, I don’t want a Diet Coke, I want a Diet Pepsi,” said Saxman, making the analogy to higher education and the idea that students in the Valley would only be able to attend James Madison University, and students in Hampton Roads would be limited to enrolling at Old Dominion University. “Can you imagine that bombshell going off?” Saxman said.
The idea from Saxman and others who back this approach is to instill some good old-fashioned free-market competition to education, with the thought that principals and administrators in public- and private-school environments would have to step up their offerings to be able to meet the demands of the market. “At the end of the day, ultimate accountability rests with the consumer. If at the end of the school year you feel your kid isn’t getting educated, you say, We’re going. I had parents call me when I was a teacher and say, I’m paying x number of thousand dollars to get my kid an education. Why isn’t she learning?” Saxman said.”
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Charlottesville-Right Now- Chris Saxman
Podcast with Coy Barefoot
July 20, 2009
Delegate Chris Saxman, Chairman of School Choice Virginia, joins host Coy Barefoot to discuss projects, including efforts for school choice in the Commonwealth.
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The Washington Examiner- Voucher advocates hope national effort isn’t stymied
By Leah Fabel
March 5, 2009
…Virginia Del. Chris Saxman, a Republican from Staunton, has introduced legislation in his state to create a tax credit for companies that donate to scholarships for students hoping to attend a private school. Pennsylvania has had a similar program since 2001.
Discussing the phaseout of D.C.’s program fired up the fiscal conservative: “[Congress is] going to find one program to close down in this country, and they’re choosing the one that’s helping students in D.C. that they drive past every day on their way to work.”
But he said he’d channel the energy to bring people around to his side.
“It gives us a story line to make the case,” Saxman said. “When I get up on the stump to raise money for this, this is a powerful talking point.”
It’s also a sign that Saxman, a former teacher and a father of four, isn’t ready to give up — and he’s recruited other Virginians to join him in standing up to the likely defeat in D.C.
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School Reform News – Survey: VA Parents Support All Forms of School Choice
The Heartland Institute
By Evelyn B. Stacey
Voters throughout Virginia’s lowest-income neighborhoods are strong supporters of school choice, a new poll reports.
In mid-January the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy and the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) announced the results of their Parental Choice Survey, given to residents throughout Norfolk, Petersburg, and Richmond, Virginia. At Petersburg High School, 99.9 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged, and Norfolk’s median household income is $15,779.
Overwhelmingly, parents in all three locales support a variety of school choice options, including tax credits, special-needs scholarships, and charter schools. They are equally dissatisfied with the government-run schools they are currently being offered.
According to the survey, 69 percent of the 2,200 respondents favor a tax-credit scholarship program.
Read the rest of the article online.
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The Washington Examiner- Voucher advocates hope national effort isn’t stymied
By Leah Fabel
March 5, 2009
…Virginia Del. Chris Saxman, a Republican from Staunton, has introduced legislation in his state to create a tax credit for companies that donate to scholarships for students hoping to attend a private school. Pennsylvania has had a similar program since 2001.
Discussing the phaseout of D.C.’s program fired up the fiscal conservative: “[Congress is] going to find one program to close down in this country, and they’re choosing the one that’s helping students in D.C. that they drive past every day on their way to work.”
But he said he’d channel the energy to bring people around to his side.
“It gives us a story line to make the case,” Saxman said. “When I get up on the stump to raise money for this, this is a powerful talking point.”
It’s also a sign that Saxman, a former teacher and a father of four, isn’t ready to give up — and he’s recruited other Virginians to join him in standing up to the likely defeat in D.C.
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Richmond Times Dispatch – Where It’s Tried, Choice Proves Popular
Letter to the Editor, August 19, 2008
Karla Dial, Managing Editor,
School Reform News. Colorado Springs, CO.
Thank you for running Del. Chris Saxman’s guest column detailing his reasons for launching School Choice Virginia ["Each Student Deserves the Best Opportunities"].
People in other states have already discovered they have nothing to fear — and much to gain — from letting education dollars follow each child to the school of their parents’ choice, providing an environment that better suits each child’s individual needs, a sense of empowerment, and greater parental involvement.
No city or state in which a school voucher or tax-credit program has gotten off the ground has seen it repealed by voters, and studies show parents who have the opportunity to use them are far more satisfied with their choices than what the government was forcing on them before.
Virginia has already tasted this type of success with Tution Assistance Grants for higher education. The only groups with something to fear from passing those benefits on to the K-12 set are those who place greater importance on protecting their own power over the well-being of children.
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The News Virginian – Old School Alternative
By Alicia Rimel
August 17, 2008
Homeschooling is a rapidly growing alternative to public education and one that homeschoolers say is gaining grudging acceptance among so-called “bricks-and-mortar” schools, but Sue Freesen points out it is hardly new.
“Homeschooling has been around for centuries,” said Freesen, of Staunton, who has homeschooled for 18 years. “People have always, in the past, homeschooled. Modern education is really the new kid on the block.”
About 2 million students nationwide are homeschooled, according to the National Home Education Research Institute based in Salem, Ore.
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Public school officials are beginning to accept that freedom of choice is a driving factor in homeschooling’s increasing prevalence, homeschool parents and others said.
“It’s not us versus them,” said Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, a former schoolteacher and a staunch school choice advocate. “It’s simply what do you like best? Are you a Coke or Pepsi fan? Are you a Virginia Tech or U.Va. fan? Certain things click better with kids; some kids are better tuned to certain environments, some do better in a classroom and some do not. So we’re just trying to figure out as many options as possible so that families can find what works for them.”
Saxman is a founder of School Choice Virginia, a nonprofit group working to raise awareness about school choice initiatives. He has suggested tax credits for those who donate to foundations that provide scholarships for families who cannot afford other options. The bills have cleared the state House during each of the past five years but have stalled in Senate committee.
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SWAC-Girl Blog- News-Virginian: “Saxman’s school choice pursuit on target”
Blog Post
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Del. Chris Saxman (R-20th House) is promoting school choice … and the Waynesboro News-Virginian agrees with him in today’s editorial.
Del. Saxman, who has been entering bills in the General Assembly on this matter since 2002, has not given up even though his bills pass the House only to die in the Senate. He has formed School Choice Virginia to secure freedom of parents to choose the best educational opportunity for their children … and he has come under fire from public school supporters who shoot down anyone who suggests alternatives to government-funded education.
Del. Saxman believes in educational opportunities for all incomes, not just the rich, with those choices being public, private, charter, and home schooling.
Read the rest of the blog post.
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The News Virginian- Saxman’s choice pursuit on target
Editorial
August 11, 2008
In an era when taboos have vanished, there remain third and fourth rails in American politics and opinion. Abortion and public education may yet be touched, but only with care lest their charged elements surge, their juice supplied by select leftist legions. Such people champion choice with regard to the former, but chafe at the concept with regard to the latter. On schools, the currents are losing energy, sapped by unusual suspects, such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, and ordinary thorns, such as Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton.
After having turned vouchers legislation into an annual ritual in futility, Saxman last month founded School Choice Virginia, a nonprofit group whose task is to boost awareness of school choice initiatives. Saxman has proposed tax credits for businesses and individuals who give money to foundations to provide scholarships for children whose parents are unable to afford alternatives, such as public charter, parochial or private schools. For five years, his bills have cleared the House only to languish in Senate committee.
Read the rest of the editorial.
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Maine Heritage Policy Center – School Choice coalition launched in Virginia
Blog by Steve Bowen
08/11/08
A Virginia legislator has launched a school choice advocacy group there called School Choice Virginia. Disappointed at his lack of success passing school choice legislation, Delegate Chris Saxman took the initiative and formed a statewide school choice organization, complete with its own webpage. The launching of the advocacy group won praise from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which today published a column from Saxman arguing in favor of school choice. Predictably, the teacher’s union in Virginia responded with a call to oppose choice, which tells you all you need to know about how interested the entrenched powers are in maintaining the status quo.
Isn’t in time for a statewide school choice advocacy group in Maine, one of the few states that actually has school choice?
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Daily News Record – The Time For School Choice Has Come
OP/ED
08/01/08
By Katreena Crookshanks
Del. Chris Saxman’s announcement that a coalition of concerned citizens is forming School Choice Virginia provides the chance to examine why school choice is an option Virginians ought to have.
There are two principal reasons: one is money, the other the right of parents to educate children as they see fit.
According to the Virginia Department of Education’s report: Keister, Spotswood, Stone Spring and Waterman elementary schools did not make the Adequate Yearly Progress required under No Child Left Behind. Thomas Harrison failed to make the AYP for the third year in a row.
Consequently, the Harrisonburg City School District did not meet the AYP goals. The Harrisonburg City School District had six schools, with 4,528 students for the 2007-2008 school year.
According to the same Virginia Department of Education report, Rockingham County School District (with 20 schools and 11,850 students) met their AYP goals for 2007-2008. Harrisonburg City Schools’ approved budget for 2008-2009 is $60.3 million, about $10 million per school. The Rockingham County Schools budget for 2008-2009 is $164 million, about $8.2 million per school. Harrisonburg plans to spend nearly $2 million more per school.
If additional funding equates to increased performance, as some logic dictates, Harrisonburg City Schools should outperform Rockingham County Schools. And wasn’t passage of the lottery bill years ago supposed to ease school budget funding? Obviously more money, the mantra from the National Education Association and state and local school boards, is not working. When will “more money” be enough?
Some people advocate increased school voluntarism as the answer. Those idea smacks of elitism. Many Harrisonburg residents work 12-hour shifts or eight-hour 9-5 shifts at various area businesses, many work two jobs to support families and many employers do not allow time off for volunteer work.
Many working parents are already overwhelmed by helping with homework, which they may not even understand and SOL at-home prep work. The last thing they need to hear is someone telling them to do more to help the schools succeed.
Other comments allege it’s the wealthy citizens spending money for private institutions. That’s a half-truth. Yes, some of the parents are wealthy. However, some private-school parents work two jobs to pay for that education, receive school scholarships and are dual- or single-income households making sacrifices (as in no vacations, no cable or satellite TV, one family paid-for vehicle, a smaller house, etc.). All of them still pay taxes for public schools. It’s obvious class envy is alive and well in the ’Burg.
For those of you opposed to tax credits, think about it this way. If my mechanic is unable to fix my car, why should I continue to pay him? You’d probably agree that I have the right as a consumer to take my car and my money elsewhere. Should I not have the same right for my child (who is far more important)? From a consumer’s point of view, the school system is being paid by the taxpayers to educate all of the children.
Finally, school choice is about far more than private schools. It also pertains to charter schools, magnet schools, home schooling and parents’ rights to decide what’s best for their child. For more information, please visit www.heritage.org/research/education/schoolchoice/Virginia.cfm.
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Richmond Times Dispatch – Virginia Choice
Editorial
07/25/08
Chris Saxman, a member of the House of Delegates from Staunton, has met with little success in efforts to pass school-choice legislation.
There are a variety of reasons for that. Virginia’s suburbs boast many good school systems, which reduces demand for alternatives. And in urban areas where school choice might be more welcomed, the state’s legacy of racism has left deep and lingering suspicion about the motives behind any government support for private academies. Then there is the state’s temperamental resistance to change, period. Even the modest reform of charter schooling has barely gained a toehold in the commonwealth.
But Saxman is not ready to throw in the towel. He has founded an advocacy organization, School Choice Virginia, to continue to press the cause. And the cause is a worthy one. As Keith West, a Richmond School Board member and a board member of the new group, observes, poor families often lack the choice many better-off families enjoy. Rich families can afford private-school tuition, and middle-class Americans choose their schools by voting with their mortgage: They buy houses near good schools. Poor families are often stuck.
Continue Reading “Virginia Choice”
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Delmarva Dealings -War Declared on Virginia Educrats
07/25/08
Blog by Cato
The Family Foundation used the announcement of Del. Chris Saxman’s School Choice Virginia initiative to tell the Commonwealth’s education establishment:
“Frankly, school choice is coming to Virginia. It’s coming whether the educrat establishment likes it or not. It may take some time, but as more and more states recognize the need for educational freedom, the only question that remains is whether Virginia will take the lead in granting families more liberty, or whether it will once again choose to fall further and further behind the rest of the nation in the area of freedom.”
Now we need leaders like Saxman and the Family Foundation in Maryland.
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Daily News Record- School Choice Group Launched
07/24/08
By Jeff Mellott
Representatives of School Choice Virginia, a new advocacy group dedicated to creating more primary and secondary education options, announced its formation Tuesday in Richmond.
Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, as chairman of the organization’s board, said the group seeks to influence school choice-related issues.
As a 501(c)4, School Choice Virginia is nonpartisan and can support specific legislation. In addition, School Choice Virginia will work to increase awareness of school choice initiatives, according to a prepared statement released Tuesday.
After the announcement, which included other school choice advocates, Saxman said the group could not endorse or financially support candidates for elected office.
For the past five years, Saxman has introduced legislation to provide tax credits to families to help them afford educating their children outside of the public school system.
“We have some pretty good public schools,” Saxman said. “But it doesn’t work for every student and we have to make sure every student has an opportunity to achieve.”
A former private school teacher whose four children are in public schools, Saxman said students in school systems with low graduation rates might not have any other option because their family cannot afford a private school.
“Every child deserves the opportunities to succeed and receive an education that will best meet their unique learning needs,” Saxman said in the prepared statement.
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Family Foundation Blog – School Choice: Whether Educrats Like It Or Not
07/24/08
Despite rabid opposition from the education establishment across the nation, more states are realizing that restoring parents’ freedom to choose how their child is educated is critical to guaranteeing the best education possible. In recent years Georgia, Florida, Arizona and Pennsylvania, to name a few, have passed various forms of education choice legislation. Even the District of Columbia has opened the doors of education freedom to parents.
In Virginia, the birthplace of liberty in our nation, the idea of extending that freedom to parents of children in elementary and secondary schools is met with ferocious hostility by the education unions and, unfortunately, a majority of legislators. “Choice,” it seems, is limited by too many only to abortion. While Virginia government provides direct assistance to families with children in pre-K programs or college, no such assistance is available for kids K-12. In fact, college TAG grants provide essentially the same type of education choice we need in K-12, so for the state to say the general model won’t work is a little disingenuous.
Continue Reading “School Choice: Whether Educrats Like it or Not”
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Richmond Times Dispatch- School-choice group takes shape
07/23/08
By Tyler Whitley
Unable to get school-choice legislation passed in Virginia, Del. Christopher B. Saxman, R-Staunton, has formed an advocacy organization to get grassroots support behind school choice.
Representatives of School Choice Virginia, a new advocacy group dedicated to creating more primary and secondary education options, announced its formation Tuesday in Richmond.
“Parents need an option,” Saxman told a news conference yesterday at the General Assembly Building.
Continue Reading “School-choice group takes shape”
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Roanoke Times – Group eyes broader access to schools
07/24/08
By Michael Sluss
RICHMOND — A new Virginia advocacy organization will work to build public and legislative support for initiatives that could expand access to private, parochial and charter schools, the group’s leaders said Tuesday.
School Choice Virginia, a nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization, will advocate for legislation that could help Virginians at all income levels cover the cost of alternatives to public schools.
The group’s formation was announced by Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, who has carried legislation that would provide income tax credits to individuals and businesses that contribute to public school foundations and scholarship foundations.
The legislation cleared the House of Delegates this year but died in the Senate Finance Committee.
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Staunton News Leader – Saxman opens school-choice nonprofit
07/23/08
AP Story
RICHMOND — Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, has created a nonprofit organization to push for tax credits and other support for alternatives to traditional public schools.
Saxman says School Choice Virginia will lobby and advocate for home-schooling, private and parochial schools and public charter or governors’ schools, among other things.
Private school tax credits and voucher legislation have failed consistently in recent years in Virginia.
Saxman’s organization can push legislation, but it can’t endorse or call for the defeat of political candidates.
Former Washington, D.C., council member Kevin P. Chavous, however, supports the group and says he can speak for or against candidates. In Chavous’ words, “I will take names.”
Chavous, a Democrat, is a national school choice advocate.
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NBC29- Charlottesville – Valley Lawmaker Looks For School Choice Support
07/22/08
By Loretta Boniti
One Valley lawmaker wants school choice permitted in Virginia, and he is taking steps to see that vision become a reality.
Staunton Delegate Chris Saxman is leading the charge for classroom choice options, and after running into roadblocks in the General Assembly for the past five years he is now helping to form School Choice Virginia, a non-profit aimed at promoting educational options in the Commonwealth.
“The product that is being produced by our public school system is not what it should be…” said Kevin Chavous, an education reform advocate.
Chavous is known as one of the nation’s educational reform leaders, having helped implement the now successful charter school program in Washington D.C. He was on hand in Richmond Tuesday to applaud the launch of School Choice Virginia.
Continue Reading “Valley Lawmaker Looks for School Choice Support”
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WHSV – TV3 – School Choice Virginia for Alternative Schooling
07/23/08
A Republican Delegate has created a nonprofit organization to push for tax credits and other support for alternatives to traditional public schools.
Chris Saxman of Staunton says School Choice Virginia will lobby and advocate for home-schooling, private and parochial schools and public charter or governors’ schools, among other things.
Private school tax credits and voucher legislation have failed consistently in recent years in Virginia.
Saxman’s organization can push legislation, but it can’t endorse or call for the defeat of political candidates.
Former Washington, D.C., council member Kevin P. Chavous, however, supports the group and says he can speak for or against candidates. In Chavous’ words, “I will take names.”
Chavous, a Democrat, is a national school choice advocate.
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Family Foundation Blog – School Choice Now Has A Voice In Virgnia
07/23/08
We will have more on this later, but yesterday we were part of an announcement by Delegate Chris Saxman (R-20, Staunton) that introduced School Choice Virginia, a new 501(c)(4) organization, to lobby on school choice issues. It cannot support candidates.
Virginia severely lacks choices in public education. Suppose your local government drew up shopping districts and you could only shop at the grocery store in your district. Do you think the service, quality and pricing would be competitive and the products of high standard? Of course not. It would be a monopoly. That’s the case in Virginia with its public education. Not all public school systems are failing to be sure. But where they are, they are failing dramatically, and the only thing that can help them is competition and reform. (For example, look at difficult it was for Richmond to get its first charter school, despite overwhelming parental approval.) Virginia needs more charter schools (which means a drastic improvement over the current law) and more freedom of enrollment within the existing structure among many other options.
Continue Reading “School Choice Now Has a Voice in Virginia”
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WAVY10 – GOP lawmaker opens school-choice nonprofit
07/23/08
AP Story
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A Republican delegate has created a nonprofit organization to push for tax credits and other support for alternatives to traditional public schools.
Chris Saxman of Staunton says School Choice Virginia will lobby and advocate for home-schooling, private and parochial schools and public charter or governors’ schools, among other things.
Private school tax credits and voucher legislation have failed consistently in recent years in Virginia.
Saxman’s organization can push legislation, but it can’t endorse or call for the defeat of political candidates.
Former Washington, D.C., council member Kevin P. Chavous (CHAY’-vus), however, supports the group and says he can speak for or against candidates. In Chavous’ words, “I will take names.”
Chavous, a Democrat, is a national school choice advocate.
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Bearing Drift- Saxman to unveil school choice group today
07/22/08
Blog By J.R.
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.
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SWAC Girl – Del. Chris Saxman to announce “School Choice Virginia”
07/18/08
Blog by SWAC Girl
[As a parent who educated her children at home for 16 years, this is a subject near and dear to my heart. Del. Saxman has dedicated himself to working on this issue since he first joined the General Assembly for the 2002 session.]
Delegate Chris Saxman will be joined by special guest Kevin P. Chavous in hosting a press conference at the State Capitol on Tuesday, July 22nd to announce the formation of School Choice Virginia.
Continue Reading “Del. Chris Saxman to announce ‘School Choice Virginia’”
