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Protecting Our K-12 Education
For the last 10 years it has been my privilege and honor to serve you on the Fairfax School Board. I have gained valuable experience in managing budgets, fiscal responsibility, and the work required to create some of the best schools in America. I will bring this experience with me to Richmond to protect K-12 education.
Protecting the education budget
- As your delegate I will work tirelessly to prevent cuts to our education budget because I’ve seen first hand how important a well funded public school system is to our community and economy
- I promise not to support any cuts to our K-12 education budget unless there truly are no alternatives
- In the rare instance a cut to the education budget unavoidable, I will be a fierce advocate for the needs of our community: I know that the question of where those cuts should come from is better answered locally than in Richmond, and will fight for local control to meet the challenges of tough economic times.
Ending the cap on non-teaching educational staff:
- As your delegate I will work to reverse a rule created during the 2009 legislative session that caps the pay for non-educational teaching staff. This rule cripples school boards’ abilities to hire guidance counselors, school medical staffs, custodial staffs, lunch room staffs, and more. We need to do all we can to make sure our schools run safely, securely, and effectively — academic achievement is a team effort.
Fixing the funding formula:
- The formula used to fund our schools is broken. It leaves out key factors such as the number of “English as a second language” students, and the number of special education students within the education system. I will work with my fellow Democrats to fix the funding formula and end this unintentional unfunded mandate so that all of the 38th District’s children get the education they need and deserve.
