Both of our candidates for governor claim, in their campaign material, to support education. However, on closer look, you can quickly see different ways of “supporting education.”
According to his campaign materials, Glenn Youngkin wants to support education by “funding children, not buildings.” How does this support our public education system? It doesn’t. It takes money away from public schools.
Terry McAuliffe, on the other hand, wants to raise teacher pay and invest in our public schools. He would expand pre-K and make sure every student could get online. He includes expansion of STEM-H and computer science programs in his plans. To accomplish this, McAuliffe will support local school districts in connecting students with needed technology as well as providing necessary training and professional development to educators. His plan is to improve access to effective education for all of Virginia’s children.
You can see that one is supporting public education, and the other is supporting private schools.
Our public education system has been underfunded. Access to technology and the internet remains a barrier for many students. Teachers are underpaid. There are teachers who love their profession, but who cannot afford to continue teaching and support their families. We need to catch up in order to provide the best teachers and the kind of schools we need for our children.
Consider joining me in supporting education for Virginia’s students with a vote for Terry McAuliffe.
Ann Tourangeau
Louisa
This letter was previously published in the latest edition of the Central Virginian newspaper and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.