Letter to the Editor

As a young voter, I know that my involvement in the upcoming elections is often overlooked, and I want it to matter. Increasingly, I find it necessary to follow the issues rather than the parties, so I turned to the web to see what Virginia politicians were working on regarding an issue that is very important to me, education. 

I was happy to find that my delegate, Jim LeMunyon, was working hard to advance reform in education through bipartisan legislation and meetings with Governor McDonnell, the Department of Education, teachers, students, and administrators. Refreshingly, there has been action in the capitol that looks at increasing dialogues about what is best for the education system as a whole. 

Having spent kindergarten through senior year in Fairfax County schools, I am very pleased to hear about the passage of legislation like HB 1063, which gives more authority to school boards to set their own calendars. This legislation will better align our school calendars with those of the Advance Placement (AP) Tests and Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL), making sure there are more instructional days prior to these exams. Having graduated with several AP credits, I can attest to the fact that more time is needed to prepare to keep Virginia schools nationally competitive for college admission. Teachers and students are in a scramble come May to complete coursework before the test, leaving precious little time for reviewing and studying. Keeping students in school after these exams only results in a waste of  time with unengaged students and teachers alike.

These reforms will allow educators to strengthen curriculum and better prepare students for post-secondary education. In addition, it costs the state $50 million a day to keep schools open (local and state contributions combined). In those final two weeks of school, which are spent primarily on non educational movie marathons and fluff field trips, the state wastes over $500 million. 

Eliminating the wasteful practices of the “Kings Dominion Law” and starting school earlier benefits both students and tax payers alike. Students are able to spend more time learning and preparing for the exams that will give them an advantage in the extremely competitive college application process, while the hard earned money of Virginia tax payers is spent in a more efficient manner.

After less than a month in session this year, Virginia is steadily moving towards better investment in our future by investing in our students.  

Colleen Wilson

Centreville