Republicans are pushing legislation that would provide scholarships for low-income students in Virginia to use in private education. Democrats say the legislation would take money away from public schools, but Republicans say it will help public school students supplement their education.
None of this could matter, however, as Democrats say this legislation would be unconstitutional.
The bills, sponsored by Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights, and Sen. Emily Jordan, R-Isle of Wight, would provide $5,000 scholarships for up to 10,000 students in Virginia. A family must be at 200% below the federal poverty level to be eligible for the scholarship.
“We have an absolute gap in education, particularly in Black and Brown communities,” Jordan said during a press conference. “If our goal is to make sure that our children are prepared, we need to make sure that they have a level playing field.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin touted this proposal during his State of the Commonwealth and spoke about it at the press conference Thursday.
”I believe we are leading the nation in what we are doing in our public school systems,” he said. “I also believe we are behind in providing alternative opportunities for families. Maryland has opportunity scholarships. North Carolina has opportunity scholarships. The District of Columbia has opportunity scholarships.”
“Again, this is not an ‘or’ moment,” he continued. “This is an ‘and’ moment because we can have a thriving public school education system that provides multiple pathways and stands for excellence and supports teachers and understands that we must meet children where they are. Part of that is allowing families to possibly choose a route for education that they otherwise may never even contemplate.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, pointed out that despite all the comments from Republicans, this would be illegal according to the Virginia Constitution.
Article VIII Section 10 of the Virginia Constitution prohibits the use of public funds to support schools that are not owned or controlled by the state.
“Private school vouchers are expressly prohibited by the Constitution of Virginia,” Surovell said. “The language was inserted when they wrote the Constitution in 1970 to prevent exactly what happened during massive resistance when the General Assembly funded students going to the Prince Edward Academy and other schools to avoid desegregated public schools.”
“It’s offensive that we’re having to revisit this issue when it’s exclusively controlled by our Constitution,” he continued.
Youngkin’s spokesperson said the proposal is constitutional and accused Senate Democrats of trying to deflect.
“Senate Democrat leadership consistently seeks to misinform and deflect from the fact that they, unfortunately, do not support education scholarships for low-income Virginians,” said Christian Martinez, Youngkin’s press secretary. “This proposal is constitutionally sound and provides educational opportunity grants to parents.”
Despite the constitutionality issue, Democrats said this legislation would not advance in the General Assembly due to the prospect of it taking money away from public schools.
Republicans said the money would come from the general fund and not impact public education.
Senate Education Committee Chair Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, pushed back on that statement during an interview.
“That’s absolutely incorrect,” she said. “We calculate funding for our schools and our school districts based on attendance, and when we are seeing an exodus of students into private schools, we know that that is going to affect the funding calculations and the basis of support that Virginia as a state provides to our localities and that money goes to our school districts.”
Senate Appropriations Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said Monday that any legislation to remove funding from public schools would be a non-starter.
“Let me be clear- we will never agree to take money from public schools to provide vouchers for private schools,” she said. “We know what it is no matter what name is used to market it.”
On average, private school tuition costs much more than $5,000. When asked how low-income students will be able to afford the difference in tuition costs, Jordan said this legislation is intended to do more than just pay for tuition.
Jordan implied that the funds could be used by all students to catch up academically, even though the legislation is written specifically for private school use.
“It’s about a child in public school that’s sitting in a classroom that is trying to catch up to their peers,” she said. “This will provide additional money for them to get tutoring, learning, remedial literacy classes, anything outside of that school structure as well. And so I don’t want this to be painted as a picture where this is going to be about a child going to another school.”
The legislation states that the “grant funds awarded pursuant to the Program to be used to support qualified educational expenses of attending an accredited private school.”
Cherry clarified in an interview that public school students can use the funds for tutoring at a private school after regular school hours.
“It has become this narrative that we’re trying to take kids out of public school and put them in private school,” Cherry said. “And for some parents, that’s the right outcome — but for some of them, they just need extra, they need that help.”
Hashmi said that any legislation related to private school vouchers will die.
“We know that voucher systems are effective ways of destroying public education, not supporting and advancing the needs of our students and our families,” she said. “The legislation they are presenting to us is legislation only to be used in private schools…What the governor has proposed has no chance of passing in this session.”
Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, said the only reason that Youngkin’s administration has increased funding for public schools is because the General Assembly pushed the issue.
“The only time they’ve ever increased funding for public education is when the General Assembly has made them,” he said. “And this is just another attempt to continue trying to deprioritize public education.”