My name is Anne Holton. I’m an educator, a former judge, and I served as the Virginia Secretary of Education and on the VA State Board of Education. I’m also the wife of Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and a mother of three adult children who attended public school.
I’m writing to you today about one of the most pressing issues in Virginia right now — our kids’ schools.
Public schools are the backbones of our communities: They support social mobility, educate the workforce of tomorrow, help students learn about and appreciate people from different backgrounds, and enable generations of immigrants to integrate successfully into American society.
That’s why I’m so proud that Virginia’s public schools have been among the best in the nation.
But now our schools are under threat. Virginia students’ relative performance on nationally comparable tests has declined for several years, and is now at or barely above national averages. Our divisions are no longer best in class. And there remains a stark achievement gap.
And it comes down to one main problem: Our schools are seriously underfunded.
The Virginia legislature’s nonpartisan think tank recently released a report on public education funding which concluded that the Commonwealth is underfunding public education by literally billions of dollars — spending nearly $2,000 less per student than the national average.
It’s hurting our kids, our families, and our communities.
It’s so important that our leaders at the state and federal level prioritize education, so I’m happy that Tim is working on this in the Senate. And I’m glad to see that the Virginia legislature is working on short-term and long-term plans to correct the underfunding, support our public schools, and invest in our kids’ education — we must push our Republican Governor to do likewise.
If you agree, you can add your name to my petition today:
