As early voting in the gubernatorial race in Virginia is about to begin, students in the Commonwealth hang in the balance. While Governor Youngkin was able to implement a landmark school accountability measure that will help inform parents and the public about our students’ true performance, most of his other efforts at more fundamental education reforms were blocked by the progressives in the General Assembly.
Now, a landmark federal education reform has drawn a sharp new line in the sand. The question for every Virginian, and most critically for gubernatorial candidates Abigail Spanberger and Winsome Earle-Sears, is this: Will our next governor embrace the transformative potential of the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC) established in the Educational Choice for Children Act, or will she slam the door on a generation of students?
From a free-market perspective, the diagnosis of what ails our public school system is clear. For too long, we have treated education as a one-size-fits-all government monopoly, with a top-down bureaucracy more responsive to powerful teachers’ unions than to the needs of students and families. The result? Stagnation, a lack of accountability, and children, particularly those from low-income families, trapped in underperforming schools.
The data in Virginia is a damning indictment of this status quo. While we have seen significant increases in per pupil spending in Virginia, we are getting very little for this investment. On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a mere 31% of Virginia’s fourth graders were proficient in reading, and only 40% in math. The numbers are even more grim for eighth graders, with only 29% proficient in both subjects. The state’s own Standards of Learning (SOL) tests paint a slightly rosier picture this year, but continue to be a deeply misleading, picture, creating an “honesty gap” that masks the true depth of the crisis from parents. Virginia was also ranked dead last in the nation for math recovery and 41st for reading recovery between 2019 and 2024. This is not just a failure; it is a betrayal of our children’s future.
Now, a powerful “first step” to a solution is on the table. The recently passed Federal Scholarship Tax Credit offers the beginning of a paradigm shift. This federal legislation would provide generous tax credits to individuals and businesses that donate to non-profit scholarship granting organizations. These organizations, in turn, would provide scholarships directly to qualifying families, empowering them to use those funds at the best educational environment for their child, be it a private, parochial, or homeschool. Interestingly, it also offers qualifying public school families the opportunity to use the scholarship for supplemental services like tutoring or other special needs.
This isn’t about “defunding” public schools as this federal funding goes to students in private or public schools and it is essentially “new” money to Virginians, not carved out of existing federal or state funds. The FSTC is unique, however, in that it funds students directly and helps foster a more competitive educational marketplace. The FSTC bypasses government bureaucracy and puts power where it belongs: in the hands of parents. When schools are forced to compete for students, they have a powerful incentive to innovate, improve, and become more accountable. In the same way, when public school parents are afforded the opportunity to get tutoring or other services, they are better informed about their children’s needs. A rising tide of competition and extra funding will lift all boats, forcing every school, public and private, to up its game.
This brings us to the next Governor. While Winsome Earle-Sears has made her support for the FSTC clear, Abigail Spanberger continues to hide behind vague platitudes about supporting public education without saying how she will address the FSTC directly. Virginia voters deserve a clear answer: If elected, will she champion the FSTC and ensure Virginia families can take full advantage of this opportunity? Or will she bow to the teachers’ unions, who view any form of parental choice as an existential threat to their monopoly?
Just across our southern border, we have seen a cautionary tale. In North Carolina, the legislature passed a bill to opt into the FSTC, only to have it vetoed by their governor, who chose to side with the education establishment. His justification echoed the tired union talking points about “hollowing out” public schools. This is the choice before Abigail Spanberger: follow the path of union-backed obstruction or become a leader for parental empowerment and direct student funding.
Spanberger’s current “Strengthening Virginia Schools” plan, which gets kudos for its detailed outline, simply pours more money into the same broken system. Sadly, it is not an adequate response to the serious education crisis we face. Opposing a program like the FSTC, which would bring millions of dollars in private scholarship money into the Commonwealth at no cost to the state budget, would be a sign she is not the moderate she claims to be. Would she deny even lower-income families a scholarship that could change their child’s life, simply to protect the education establishment as was done in North Carolina?
The question for Ms. Spanberger is simple: Does she believe parents are capable of making the best decisions for their own children? If so, she should publicly support the FSTC. If not, she should be honest and tell Virginia families that she doesn’t trust Virginians with the federal money that is being offered. Either way, Virginians deserve to know her position on the FSTC before they vote.
Derrick Max is the President & CEO of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy and may be reached at [email protected]..
