Given the negativity that typically surrounds the making of sausage at the General Assembly (GA) building, as a person who has faith in the democratic process, I thought it appropriate to point out a notable instance of ethical decision-making at 1000 Bank Street RVA, 23219. Please partner with me to congratulate yet unnamed legislators who have joined local school districts to value the hard work and high performance of the remarkable group of students that populate the Commonwealth’s Governor’s Schools, and MLWGS in particular. The GA found a way to include Governor’s Schools in funding linked to the Standards of Quality (SOQ). This funding stream will net MLWGS approximately $35,000 in fiscal year 2016.
Because success can be misinterpreted as excess particularly in austere fiscal periods, it is refreshing to know that legislative champions remain who have anatomy sufficient to swim in the direction of excellence, even if it is against the tide. These legislators seem to understand an enduring truth about education; namely, that education is NOT good in itself. History and current events teaches that education can create war rather than peace, ignorance rather than enlightenment. While school funding is not an issue of war and peace per se, if a core aim of public education is to develop the full potential of every child, then it must be intelligently designed for that purpose. In particular it must be designed to engage learners who can be hidden at the poles of the “y” axis. Supporting children who need help to meet standards is a goal that absolutely remains worthy of our attention. But the children who are often hidden from public view are those who quietly far exceed even our highest expectations such as those at MLWGS. The Darwinist assumption that high performing students and schools will be okay even if left to fend for themselves is indeed false.
A sincere debt of gratitude is owed to our advocacy team led by Marianne Macon and Laura O’Brien as well as to our EduPAC students who have been working on this issue since at least January 2013. While this funding outcome is worthy of celebration, important work remains including the codification of SOQ funding to Governor’s Schools and the pursuit of the funding recommendations of the Secretary of Education. Notwithstanding the work yet to be done, as a new crest on an old wave, the General Assembly’s acknowledgement of the talented and hard working group of high school students that populate Virginia’s Governor’s Schools and MLWGS in particular signals that educational excellence still matters in the Commonwealth. A rising tide indeed lifts all boats!
