Spanberger announces education plan in run for governor

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Democratic candidate for governor Abigail Spanberger announced her plan to improve Virginia schools during a gathering at I.C. Norcom High School Friday afternoon.

Surrounded by parents, teachers and fellow candidates, including Norcom alum State Sen. Louise Lucas (D), Spanberger said, “I know that the strength of Virginia schools is personal to so many of us, because it is personal to me.”

A key part of Spanberger’s education plan is an early start.

“The studies are clear, the data are clear,” she said. “Early childhood education is one of the strongest investments that Virginia can make in setting our kids up for job and career success.”

But what if parents can’t afford child care? Spanberger acknowledged the rising cost.

“In many parts of Virginia, it costs more to send your child to daycare than to a four-year public institution,” Spanberger said. “I’ll give parents more options and a little bit more breathing room. I will make sure more parents can access high-quality options in their own communities and expand access to assistance for families who need it.”

Some of Spanberger’s plan includes repairing and modernizing crumbling schools, rejecting the use of public education funds for voucher programs, increasing support for students with disabilities and their parents and making college more accessible and affordable.

Spanberger said a single education policy won’t work when flexibility is needed across the Commonwealth.

“It comes down to unique challenges based on student population, community size or classroom size.”

Spanberger’s press office says these are the key points of her “Strengthening Virginia’s Schools Plan”:

• Recruiting, retaining, and providing ongoing support to high-quality teachers to address Virginia’s teacher shortage
• Upholding academic excellence and rigor in Virginia’s public schools
• Repairing and modernizing crumbling schools
• Preparing students with advanced academic programs and career-ready skills by promoting innovation within Virginia’s public schools
• Rejecting efforts to divert funding from public education to pay for voucher programs
• Increasing support for students with disabilities, and their parents
• Giving kids the opportunity to focus on learning at school by supporting wraparound services — including making it easier for rural school divisions to implement telehealth programs for mental health services

The Democratic candidate for governor says her plan will strengthen Virginia’s institutions of higher education by:

• Making college more affordable and accessible for Virginia students, including by improving financial aid options for students
• Supporting Virginia’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which have been chronically underfunded
• Increasing access to college coursework for high school students, particularly for courses aligning with Virginia industry needs and regional demands
• Recognizing and leveraging Virginia’s colleges and universities as engines for economic development and to promote innovation
• Supporting Virginia’s community colleges — including by strengthening the G3 and Fast Forward programs
• Enhancing support services to allow students to focus on academic success
• Protecting Virginia’s institutions of higher education from political influence

Spanberger says her plan will strengthen Virginia’s child care and early childhood education opportunities by:

• Making sure more parents have access to high-quality child care options in their area.
• Creating greater access to the Child Care Subsidy Program
• Expanding public-private partnerships to lower child care costs for Virginia parents, including by working with the General Assembly to establish an Employee Child Care Assistance Pilot Program
• Helping more Virginians enter the early child care sector and improving worker retention
• Increasing the supply of child care, particularly in areas of the Commonwealth with child care deserts
• Preventing benefit cliffs to support more hardworking Virginia families
• Increasing access to enrichment activities, wraparound services, and healthcare for infants and toddlers