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Katzen
Supports
Education
To the Editor:
Del. Jay Katzen’s strong stand in favor of innovation in public education is routinely misrepresented by his liberal opponents, because they fear that he and other conservatives will remove the straitjacket on public education in Virginia strapped on by the teacher’s union.
Jay introduced legislation to permit charter schools, which are public schools set up by school boards and controlled by the boards, principals, and parents. The union had its liberal legislators vote this down, because it understandably wants to keep control of our schools, which it can’t do if schools are under local control.
Jay voted to increase funding for elementary and secondary education. Because Gov. Allen was trying to put the brakes on state spending, the increases in school spending were less than what the two-year budget called for. So Jay’s opponents call these “cuts,” and claim that he is trying to “destroy public education.”
Neither side wants to destroy public education. Liberal educators want the system to stay just like it is, and they promise to reverse the downward trend in performance and behavior at our schools if only we will give them more money to spend. Conservatives like Jay Katzen say that we have already tried that in Virginia (spending on K-12 has increased 65 percent since 1985); it hasn’t worked, and it’s time to try something different. And it’s time to free school boards, administrators, teachers, and parents to make the decisions about how our children are going to be educated.
RICK WOOD
Amissville
(Editor's Note: Mr. Wood is a candidate for the School Board from Jackson District.)
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