An open letter to Kitty Boitnott & the VEA
Dear Ms. Boitnott,
We recently came across your blog entry, in which you wrote:
There are those who would misrepresent or mis-characterize or take our comments out of context for their own political aims, however. And while they think they are clever in their derision, they just strike me as unable to debate the merits of the issue every time they feel the need to criticize me personally or the VEA in general.
You went on to add:
What I find unfortunate is that the folks who disagree with us on these and similar issues can’t seem to separate the issues from personalities. Please, let us debate the merits and demerits of the issue of charter schools, pay for performance, vouchers and tax credits. But can’t we do it without the negative tone of implied derision and open disrespect that comes with name calling and the deliberate mis-characterization and misinterpretation of positions?
Whatever happened to the process of civil public discourse?
I think we as adults set a terrible example for our children when we engage in disrespectful public debate. We know better. We should do better.
As you reference the August 21st article from the Richmond Times Dispatch editorial pages, we are led to believe you are referring, at least in part, to the article written by Mr. Barton Hinkle, that examines the efforts by Delegate Chris Saxman and the organization he founded, School Choice Virginia, to give parents greater access to educational choices in the Commonwealth.
What shocks us in your blog entry is that you yourself make the call for civil public discourse. We could not agree with you more in that regard, which is why we wonder why you yourself made the accusation in an article for The New Dominion Magazine that school choice efforts were based in bigotry. (Your quote: “All of this stuff about, We need vouchers so we can send our kids other places, we need to provide choices, we need charter schools, all of it is simply an attempt to get away from the responsibility of providing a public education, which is what this country has been founded on. This really frustrates me, and I really believe there is an underlying bigotry at the bottom of it all that nobody wants to address.”)
That to us seems to be shirking from a debate about the issues in a civil and respectable fashion. Rather than debate on the issues, it is you yourself who stoops to open disrespect by implying that those of us fighting to give children a chance and parents a choice are no more than bigots wanting to pick who our children play with on the playground.
We have consistently provided evidence for how educational choice improves education- for all students- including those in public schools. We have shown the positive results for choice programs in other states. We have also shown how school choice will effectively save the Commonwealth money- money that could be re-invested in public schools- if you are able to make your case for that.
We welcome you to the discussion about truly reforming education in our Commonwealth, and we would welcome some civil public discourse on the topic without the negative tones. Unfortunately your words on your blog ring hollow when compared to your other public statements on the issue.
“This is about Freedom”
School Choice Virginia Chairman, Delegate Chris Saxman, joined Joe Thomas on WCHV yesterday morning to discuss school choice. The two had a great discussion about education reform and parental choice in education.
If you missed it, you can listen to the segment online here.
Thank you to Joe Thomas for inviting Del. Saxman to appear on your show!
Tune In Tomorrow
School Choice Virginia Chairman, Delegate Chris Saxman, will be a guest on WCHV’s Joe Thomas Show tomorrow morning at about 6:30am. Tune in to hear the discussion on school choice efforts in Virginia!
“Choice Proponents Play a Solid Game”
More on this later, but we wanted to quickly share with you a great column from Richmond Times Dispatch Columnist Bart Hinkle that ran in today’s paper.
In today’s column, “Choice Proponents Play a Solid Game,” Mr. Hinkle takes a thoughtful and careful look at the debate about school choice in Virginia. He writes, in part:
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.
…
Saxman adds another point: With greater school choice, “ultimate accountability rests with the consumer.” Rich parents already can choose which private school to attend. Middle-class families already buy houses in neighborhoods where the public schools are better. Poor families are stuck with the school they’re assigned to — unless they have a mechanism such as the popular D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, or Milwaukee’s well-known voucher program, to vote with their feet as well.
The full article is available online, and is certainly worth a read.
Giuliani, Pawlenty talk school choice
School Choice Virginia Chairman, Delegate Chris Saxman, traveled to Chicago last week for GOPAC’s healthcare summit. While there, he had the opportunity to talk to several leaders from around the country on the topic of education and school choice. We asked Delegate Saxman to give us a quick update.
SCVa: We know that the summit was focused on healthcare, but we understand that you did get a chance to talk to at least a few folks about school choice.
Saxman: Yes, we had some time at lunch and between sessions, and I had a chance to talk with both Governor Pawlenty and Mayor Giuliani about education reform issues.
SCVa: Can you give us a quick recap?
Saxman: Giuliani basically said that vouchers are a key reason why higher education does so well and K-12 does not. Lack of public-private collaboration and no choice hurt education.
Pawlenty echoes comments from Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton that school choice is the #1 civil rights issue of the 21st century and said that forcing someone to go to a bad school is “disgraceful.”
He told those in attendance (as reported by Politico.com):
“We have an educational system in the United States that isn’t cash for clunkers, it’s clash for flunkers,” he said. “This idea in this country that anyone is forced to go to a bad school is disgraceful.”
“This is the civil rights issue of our time,” he said, describing the plight of inner city schools and urging the state lawmakers in the crowd to address the lower performances of schools in some of their states more depressed areas. “It is a disgrace and it is a moral imperative…we need to rise up and fix this.”
SCVa: Any other thoughts?
Saxman: It was great talking with both of these guys. You can tell that they both believe in school choice- we need more leaders in every level of government who are willing to stand up and fight for education reforms that will give parents greater access to educational options. We need leaders willing to stand up to the status quo and challenge the system to do what is right for our kids and their future.
Lifting Students Up
Chairman of School Choice Virginia, Delegate Chris Saxman, was recently invited to give the Commencement Address to the Summer Session Corps of Cadets at Fishburne Military School.
We asked him if we could share his remarks on the blog, as we felt that in many ways they embodied why we fight so hard for school choice. We want every student to have an educational environment where they are being “pulled up,” rather than “pulled down” by a variety of factors. Every child needs to have the opportunity to be in an environment that helps them stay on the path towards a successful future- surrounded by folks willing to “dive into the deep end and get him to the sides when others are trying to pull him under.”
To us, school choice is about ensuring every child can have the chance to be pulled up.
Thank you to Del. Saxman for allowing us to reprint his remarks.
Thank you Colonel.
It is indeed an honor and a privilege to be with you today at the commencement ceremony of Fishburne’s Summer School.
When we first brought up the idea of summer school to our son, his response was predictable. He said, “What did I do wrong?” We answered, truthfully, “Son, you haven’t done anything wrong. But we think you would benefit from this program.”
We were right. While William is a very good student, we began to see just how dangerous the world of a teenager is these days. The forces arrayed around young people today are daunting and relentless.
We knew we wanted a school environment that pushed our son up instead of pulling him down. We want our son challenged – in the right direction.
I explained it like this to William. I told him that he was swimming in the deep end of the pool. There were people on the side cheering him on, and there were people in the pool pulling him under. Many of his friends were trying to pull him under instead of helping him to the side of the pool. We told him that we could not stand by on the deck of the pool simply cheering him on. We had to dive in and get him to the side of the pool before he was pulled too far under. He seemed to understand that visual. Gentlemen, it is the people facing you on the hill behind me that are cheering you. It will be the members of your family, those here today, that will be pulling you out. It is the “friends” back home who, unintentionally in many cases, will be pulling you under.
During this summer session, I think you all have had experiences that you will laugh and talk about for some time. Our family has one of its own. William was on a team of young men who went out orienteering. Orienteering is when you are given a map and some coordinates and are told to be at the appointed place by the appointed time. There are lines of limitations in this exercise; however, this team did not see those lines during their trek. They misunderstood them and end up 6 miles off course. Thankfully, a supervisor from the school was able to find them unharmed and return them to their point of origination.
This was a great lesson for these boys. They were lost. Then they were found. But did they learn? Did they learn that the lesson was really a metaphor about life? We all get lost. It’s human nature. We will get supervision and course corrections. But will we listen to those that are trying to put has back on the right course and learn from our mistakes? I think, in time, those boys will learn to more clearly recognize those lines of limitations in the future and not get so lost.
Recently, my son asked me who influences my decision making in my political life. Who do I listen to? I had not really thought about that in awhile, since I recently decided not to seek re-election, but I asked him if I should listen to 14 and 15 year olds. He replied, “No, of course not!” I quickly turned it back to him “Then why do you?”
I explained to him that not only did he need a plan or a map to chart his future, he also need an environment that would help him stay on that path. He needed folks willing to dive into the deep end and get him to the sides when others are trying to pull him under. And he needs to learn to return the same to those who are in need themselves.
We are grateful to Fishburne for a wonderful summer program and we are very much looking forward to enrolling William here in the Fall. Thank you again for the invitation to be with you today.
Gentlemen, I wish you the very best this summer. Well done.
Updated: House Appropriations Subcommittee Approves HB1965, HB2104 and HB1985
School Choice Virginia Applauds Legislators for Supporting Educational Choices
RICHMOND – Today the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education voted 5-2 in favor of Delegate Chris Saxman’s HB1965: Education Investment Tax Credit (EITC). The Subcommittee also approved on a 6-1 vote Delegate Bill Janis’s HB2104: Students with Disabilities Tuition Assistance Grant, into which they rolled Delegate John O’Bannon’s HB1985: Autism Tuition Assistance Grant. The bills will now be considered by the full Appropriations Committee.
Delegate Saxman’s EITC legislation is modeled after successful school choice programs in Pennsylvania and Florida, and creates individual and business tax credits for donations made to qualifying scholarship organizations, which award scholarships for students to attend the public or private school of their choice. The legislation also provides the tax credits for donations to public school foundations. Similar measure have been approved by the House of Delegates in each of the past four legislative sessions.
The Tuition Assistance Grant programs introduced by Delegates Janis and O’Bannon would provide tuition assistance up to $36,000 per year for attendance at an eligible private school for any K-12 student as defined by the Board of Education in its Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia who is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Ohio has implemented a similar program that has proved to be very successful.
“We are very pleased with today’s favorable votes on these educational choice measures by the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education,“ said School Choice Virginia Executive Director Whitney Duff. “These three bills are modeled on programs that have been demonstrated to work in other states, giving families access to greater educational options, improving educational opportunities for all students, and generating measurable cost-savings for states.
“We thank Delegates Janis, O’Bannon and Saxman for their leadership on these school choice measures, and we thank the members of the subcommittee for their support of these bills that will improve education for all Virginia students. Rather that trap students into a one-size-fits-all model, we encourage the full Appropriations Committee to embrace choice as an educational reform that can give all students in the Commonwealth the hope for a brighter future.”
School Choice Virginia is an organization working to expand educational choices for Virginia families to ensure every child has the opportunity to receive the education that best meets their unique and individual needs. As a 501(c)4, School Choice Virginia is non-partisan and can support specific legislation. In addition, School Choice Virginia works increase awareness of school choice initiatives and to demonstrate to elected leaders on all levels the broad-based support for educational reforms. Visit us online at www.SchoolChoiceVA.com.
###
Updated: In the news: Committee OKs Choice Bill
The Daily News Record in Harrisonburg reported on Delegate Chris Saxman’s school choice bill, HB1965, being approved by the House Finance Committee on Monday.
A plan by Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, to help give residents a choice about where to send their children to school passed the House of Delegates Finance Committee on Monday.
Committee member Del. Matt Lohr, R-Broadway, was among the dozen of delegates who supported the bill. The bill was referred to the Appropriations Committee.
Saxman is proposing a tax credit for businesses and individuals who contribute to eligible public school foundations and scholarship foundations.
SWAC-Girl also mentions this story on her blog today. She writes:
Another hurdle has been passed by Del. Chris Saxman’s (R-Staunton) school choice bill that was supported by Del. Matt Lohr (R-Broadway). Now it goes to the Appropriations Committee.
Del. Chris Saxman on the Radio
Delegate Chris Saxman was a guest on the Joe Thomas Show on WCHV in Charlottesville this morning to talk about HB1965 being approved by the House Finance Committee yesterday. Joe and Del. Saxman talk about giving parents and students real choices in education- and how the tax credit scholarship program will help Virginia students, and save the Commonwealth money.
Listen to the podcast from the show online here.
We’re happy to get Virginians talking about the important issue of school choice- and how it helps families and taxpayers alike.
In the news: “Education Tax Credits Needed Now”
Looks like more voices are entering the discussion here in Virginia about the need for educational options for Virginia students- which is always a good thing. In this op-ed in the Harrisonburg Daily News Record, Adam Schaeffer (a senior fellow with the Education Reform Initiative at the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, and a policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom) writes about the need for education tax credits here in the Commonwealth.
While many of his points are dead-on, and we appreciate his support for efforts to give families greater access to options when it comes to educating their children, we do take issue with his accusations that, “Virginia’s politicians still haven’t learned a thing about education reform.”
Mr. Schaeffer is right, in part, many of Virginia’s lawmakers are behind the curve when it comes to issues of real education reform, instead getting caught up in the VEA’s constant focus on dollars and cents (rather than children and results). Thankfully, not all lawmakers are unaware of the real need for reforms that will give families and students real opportunities for success.
Delegate Chris Saxman, founder and Chairman of School Choice Virginia, has been a leader on this issue in the Commonwealth for several years, gaining the support of the majority of members of the House of Delegates for the same type of education tax credit legislation proposed by Mr. Schaeffer (see HB1164 from 2008). This legislation has been successful in the House for the last few legislative sessions- only to be stopped in the state Senate (specifically the Senate Finance Committee).
School Choice Virginia is committed to continuing to work to see the passage of real educational reforms for Virginia’s families, and we look forward to more people and organizations joining with us in this effort.
