The Senate of Virginia is rejecting an effort to hit the pause button on a major education initiative of the governor.
Critics of Governor Glenn Youngkin's school accountability system describe it as rushed and ambiguous. Senator Barbara Favola is a Democrat from Arlington who says she's hearing from school officials in her district who are asking for more time.
"They’re not saying no. They’re not saying accountability is bad. They’re not saying the system is completely flawed," Favola explains. "They’re saying give us some time to bring the community along so we can start explaining the framework that might be shocking to some parents."
On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate rejected a bill that would’ve hit the pause button on the rollout of the new accountability system. One of the senators who voted against the pause was Schuyler VanValkenburg, a Democrat from Henrico County who is also a high school civics teacher.
"We should put this in place so we can work out the kinks. We've had three accountability systems in 10 years, and that does harm to kids," he says. "That does harm to schools."
The School Performance and Support Framework is an attempt to address learning loss, classifying schools into four different categories: Distinguished, On Track, Off Track or Needs Intensive Support.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
