Local legislators are scheduled to participate in a public forum about public education at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the Matoaka Room at the College of William and Mary.
During the “Focus on Education” event, state Sens. Thomas Norment (R-3rd District) and John Miller (D-1st District) and Dels. Brenda Pogge (R-Williamsburg) and Monty Mason (D-93rd District) will field questions from audience members about state-level public education issues.
Betsy-Overkamp Smith, spokesperson for Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools, said she expects K-12 issues to be discussed at the forum, like the A through F school grading system, SOL exams and the Opportunity Education Institution.
The A through F school grading system is a state law initiated by former Gov. Bob McDonnell that assigns grades to schools based on their performance in place of the accreditation system. It’s a law that both the superintendent of York County schools, Eric Williams, and WJCC Superintendent Steven Constantino have come out against.
Each year, K-12 students take the SOL exams, meant to be a test of how much students have learned in science, math, history and English. Also meant to be a measure of how well individual schools and teachers are performing, the exams have been a hot item for a long time in school divisions – parents, administrators, teachers and students alike have questioned their merit.
The OEI is a recently created state-level school board that takes control of schools and their funding when they lose accreditation. Both the York County School Division and WJCC, as well as state education organizations like the Virginia School Board Association and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents have joined a lawsuit against the state, calling OEI unconstitutional. It was also a recent point of contention between two WJCC school board members.
The forum will be moderated by Ginnie McLaughlin, who stepped down in June from her position as the dean of the school of education at W&M. Kyra Cook, president of the WJCC PTA Council, will host the event. Guests will be served light refreshments at 4 p.m. and the forum will start at 4:30 p.m.
This event – free and open to the public – is sponsored by WJCC Public Schools, WJCC PTA Council, WJCC Education Association, York James City Williamsburg NAACP, League of Women Voters of the Williamsburg Area, the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance and W&M’s School of Education.
