by Bud Cothern, Ed.D., Retired Superintendent, Goochland County Public Schools
Although I personally am not eligible to vote for Dawn Adams because I do not reside in her district, as a retired educator I have been impressed with Dawn Adams’ “Healthy Communities” platform and am most impressed by her education platform. I personally interviewed her, then later communicated with her via the Internet. Thus, after much research and thought I have concluded she would, in my humble opinion, be the strongest Democratic candidate to run for Virginia’s 68th district House seat. I enthusiastically endorse her and am happy to support a person so dedicated to the betterment of public education in Virginia.
Dawn is both a product of the Virginia public school system and one who teaches in the same system. Dawn's platform is built around “Building Healthy Communities.” This goes beyond only healthcare where she is obviously well qualified. “Healthy Communities,” she believes, have access to quality education, jobs that pay fair and livable wages, clean environments - clean air and clean water, access to broadband Internet and other strong infrastructure. She pledged back in March to not accept money from Dominion Energy. She knows this doesn't mean she'll be left out of conversations or opportunities to represent. Dominion gives money to both parties and the amount they give is often minuscule but it does influence our policy and government. Dawn has chosen people over profits because she has the integrity and the ability to find campaign funds elsewhere. She also raised the most funds among the three Democratic candidates at the end of the first quarter.
First and foremost, Dawn believes, like I do, that Virginia public schools are some of the best in the nation.
The Good News from the VEA:
- In Virginia, 94% of all eligible school-aged children attend public schools.
- Virginia recently scored 6th in the nation on Advanced Placement exam scores.
- Virginia ranked 12th nationally on Education Week’s school quality indicators.
- Virginia’s on-time graduation rate of 90% is at the highest it's ever been.
That being said, we could be doing better! Here's why:
FUNDING
Dawn believes the best opportunity students have to succeed in life is available through education, and this can only be made possible with fully funded public schools. She pledges to work to ensure public tax dollars are kept in the public school system. Some of her observations to me are as follows:
- Right now there is a proposal in Louisa County (which we know is outside the 68th) to allow tax-exempt bonds of over $8 million to fund a private Christian school in the City of Richmond.
- No public tax money should be pulled out of the public funds to appropriate to private education.
- We especially need to uphold the Constitution when it comes to separation of church and state, and we cannot allow government reallocate public tax funds to private, religious education.
- In the General Assembly this year initiatives to pull money from public education and move it to charter schools or voucher programs was vetoed by Governor McAuliffe. The Governor also vetoed the “Virtual Schools” initiative (a Betsy DeVos favorite) and restricting literature deemed "sexually explicit" (a bill that would have prevented students from reading classics like Romeo & Juliet). Dawn fully supports and appreciates our Governor’s vetoes.
- Dawn pledges to work to ensure there is funding for students to advance their learning after high school to attend trade schools and community colleges. We also need to make our public universities more affordable - more on that later...
- Special Education - As the Director for the Office of Integrated Health, she pledges to work with individuals, families, and community and state government stakeholders to develop local health/medical-based resources and establish a statewide infrastructure of health supports for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
- We need more resources for students, educators, and schools when it comes to special education.
- The biggest teacher shortage is for special education educators. Two out of three educators leave their jobs because of dissatisfaction.
- We can do better! The General Assembly as a whole needs to understand what is at stake when we fail to serve all students.
- Dawn will use her knowledge and experience to bring new ideas and fiscally responsible funding to the General Assembly to make a difference in this area.
TEACHER PAY
Teacher salaries in Virginia lag behind the national average. While our schools achieve some of the highest scores in the nation as a whole, our teachers are paid on average $7,200 less than what others earn, and far less than what they deserve. This is a huge gap that needs to be closed and our current system is not sustainable as we grow our economy and population. She will work to ensure this wage gap is closed.
- The General Assembly passed a 2% salary increase for all SOQ funded positions - this is a step in the right direction, but teachers deserve more.
- There is a massive teacher shortage nationally and within our Virginia public school system. A large part of this problem is due to the lack of competitive salaries. Others of course include attrition, and a lack of specialized training for handling and de-escalating behavioral challenges of an increasing number of students.
- Dawn will work to earmark money for education, to make sure teacher salaries are competitive, and work with those on the front lines in pre-K -12, and to look for other ways to not just bring more educators into the Commonwealth, but to retain them and help them advance in their careers.
UNIVERSAL PRE-K
Speaking of pre-K: we know the Head Start program has helped lower-income families get their children to be at a more equitable level when the student enters kindergarten. Not every family is eligible for Head Start, and not every community has resources to ensure every eligible student is served as it is a first-come / first-served program. That being said, universal pre-K is an important consideration for the Commonwealth, and one that will foster increased social interaction and play-based learning, better preparing all children for kindergarten.
- She will work to develop options toward universal pre-K for all children in the Commonwealth.
- Many states have been able to find funding for this opportunity through lottery winnings and other non-tax increasing initiatives.
- Dawn believes both sides can agree this may not just be a great thing for our students, families, and economy -- it's necessary to equip our future with the tools they need to compete.
SCHOOL NUTRITION
Lunch shaming needs to be a thing of the past. If we can afford to hand every student a laptop and textbooks, surely we can figure out ways to allow every student to receive lunch during the day. As a nurse practitioner, she knows students cannot learn without proper nutrition and the glucose their brains need to develop and process information. You simply cannot learn if you're hungry.
- In the 68th district - Most schools are well funded and students come from affluent homes comparatively to the rest of the Commonwealth. That being said, we know that 30% of Chesterfield students are on free/reduced lunches.
- Dawn also knows that in the 68th district there is one school in particular in Chesterfield (Greenfield Elementary School) that consistently has students and families receiving groceries on a weekly basis from a satellite operation of the Central Virginia Food Bank located in Midlothian.
- The current structure of SNAP and WIC programs are not enough to meet the needs of families who may be going through financial hardships with medical expenses, but make too much money to qualify for federal and state assistance.
- Families shouldn't have to choose whether to feed their children or lose their home or go without medicine.
- Dawn pledges to work beyond the lens of the educational programs to address these issues in order to protect our most vulnerable populations.
SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE
We can see through the data that despite Black students making up slightly less than 25% of the student population, they account for more than 53% short-term suspensions, 60% long-term suspensions, and 52% expulsions. We also know from at least one study (University of Pennsylvania), the majority of teachers (80%), in the pre-K-12 schools are middle-class, white females. Though we don’t know that there is a correlation, there is reason to consider a relationship and a need for increased training and instruction to support teachers working with children needing varied approaches to learning.
- Dawn pledges to work with organizations such as the NAACP, with psychologists, school administrative professionals, and others to help develop initiatives that would provide our educators with the training they need to understand implicit bias, as well as deescalating behavior techniques.
- Dawn pledges to explore funding that would provide students who are being disciplined meditative practices as we know this can reduce recidivism
- Dawn pledges to ensure Virginia is no longer #1 when it comes to the “School to Prison Pipeline.”
STANDARDIZED TESTING
Dawn believes we need to re-examine how our schools are accredited and how our students are assessed. Proficiency is good for students who have very stable environments. Growth would be more appropriate for transient and lower socio-economic communities who can't compete. Working with locales to support better solutions regionally might be one way to approach this.
- For example: Despite improving scores at Falling Creek Middle School and Ettrick Elementary in Chesterfield County, both will be denied accreditation. The growth over the last three years (that is a great thing) still seems to the community like failure. This only serves as a disincentive. It is plainly unfair to hold one standard for the entire Commonwealth when variables include:
- the infrastructure that supports students;
- inconsistencies in resources, including teachers;
- that funding for schools varies by locality (we lack equitable funding);
- transient vs. static populations;
- cultural, language, and other differences.
- We need to look at measures of proficiency and growth as it relates to their locality, and Dawn will work to change things around for Virginia.
AFFORDABLE ADVANCED EDUCATION
After Dawn graduated from the Virginia Public School System in High School, she went on to graduate from four Virginia Universities (JMU, UVA, VCU, and ODU) and during that time, she was able to be debt-free through short-term low interest loans, and programs that allowed her to work while obtaining her education. Not every student benefits from the same opportunities. She will work to:
- Develop or promulgate policies that look to refinance student loan debt;
- Develop tuition relief and better loan forgiveness programs.
While we need to ensure we have a Democratic Governor, and also strong members of the General Assembly to push against radical Tea Party and GOP agendas, we also need to build relationships with all members to foster improved communications directed at solutions both parties can agree on. Although Dawn currently works in State Government and currently with members of the General Assembly to accomplish the things that need to be done, she believes she can be even more effective from the inside.
In summary, as Dawn sees it, health care is a huge issue in our nation and state, but healthy communities can only exist through access to quality and affordable education, infrastructure, access to public transportation, clean environment and jobs that pay fair wages.
Please give Dr. Dawn Adams your support as I believe her to be a candidate more than worthy of serving in the Virginia General Assembly.
Dr. Harold “Bud” Cothern, Retired Superintendent, Goochland County Public Schools