Thread by @TaikeinCooper

[THREAD] They say that hindsight vision is 20/20. That's why I'm so troubled by SJ75 in the #valeg.

A history lesson + a call to action...

#vagov #vapol #fundourschools

First, I'm the Executive Director of @VirginiaExcels. VE is designed to develop and amplify the voices of students and families from historically underrepresented communities to promote educational equity.

As I've shared with all of the participants in our programs, "I've failed you if you only parrot things that I think & I hate failing."

Daily, I ask myself multiple times, "is this best for kids? If not, how can we make it better?"

So, professionally, I always try to be "the adult in the room."

When people and organizations argue about small things like, who will speak first or if the chicken should be fried or baked, I always ask, "how is this helping the kids?"

(yes, these arguments happen, a lot!!)

I generally applaud @BillStanley for his willingness to look at the sometimes decrepit and dangerous school buildings in VA. We need to modernize schools in VA ASAP.

Our Youth Ambassadors have something to say about school modernization and I can't wait to announce that soon.

Here is SJ75 for your records:

lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp60…

Yes, we need to take a serious look at what our Constitution says about education, but my goodness, "this ain't it."

First of all, before the Civil War, North Carolina was the ONLY Southern State that had a public education system.

During Reconstruction and to be (re)admitted into the Union, confederate states were compelled to offer public education.

Yes, Virginia & all of the other southern states, had to create a public education system to get federal dollars.

Virginia was one of the last three states to be readmitted, BTW. And this is where things get really interesting...

Virginia's re-admittance was conditioned on this clause:

“the constitution of Virginia shall never be amended or changed as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens of the United States of the school rights and privileges secured by the constitution of said State.”

So that's why public education is explicitly mentioned in our Constitution.

It wasn't because Virginians wanted to be on the right side of history. It's because the Federal Government required it.

So with the history out of the way, I know y'all want to know my concerns with Senator @BillStanley's Constitutional Amendment:

1) "The General Assembly shall provide for a system of free public elementary and secondary schools with equal educational opportunities for all children of school age throughout the Commonwealth."

REPLACE 'equal' with 'equitable'

With our hindsight vision, we know that equal opportunities have never worked for historically marginalized and underrepresented communities.

Did we learn ANYTHING from the travesty of Plessy v Ferguson?

Equal has no place in my Constitution or Education Systems.

2) "...and shall seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained."

"Seek to ensure..." is super vague and has given legislators a convenient way to disinvest in public education over the years.

"seek to ensure" means a valiant attempt.

Y'all, our kids can't wait for legislators to attempt to invest more into our schools. Attempting it like talking to me about practice...

It's game time!

VA has failed to meet its Constitutional obligation of "high quality" education, which is unfortunate.

To stop failing kids, legislators need to remove "seek to ensure".

I'm happy to support SJ75 with more amendments. Remember, put kids first!

#valeg #vapol #vagov #FundOurSchools