Ralph Northam is the Public Education Candidate!

Kenya Gibson
Jul 24, 2017 · 4 min read

In November, Virginians will select our next governor. While a gubernatorial election always sparks interest, this race is of special importance. For nearly four years, Terry McAuliffe has been our only barrier to a political landscape void of a progressive voice. Likewise, our next governor will have the opportunity to make a critical difference in a highly-charged political landscape. This election could also shift the balance of power in the house and senate. In short: this November we have a chance to define what Virginia will become after Trump’s election. If you are reading this, and you care about public education — join me in the campaign for Ralph Northam.

Ralph Northam is running for governor to build on Virginia’s economic progress and defend our values against those who want to take us back.

There is cause to be hopeful. Our state has already raised national attention for its high democratic voter turnout in the primaries, where democrats surpassed republicans at the polls by 50%. Virginians have been galvanized, and their will to build a better future is not only clear in the voting booth. Since January we have rallied against a range of conservative disruptions of 21st-century progress. Virginians have gathered in the streets, in town halls, even at airports to show their investment in progressive values and empowered communities.

Virginians are powerful, and they are inspiring. Virginia gives me hope.

March on Monument. January 14th, 2017

Significant work lies ahead. Voter turnout is never assured, and in our state we vote in the context of gerrymandered districts designed to game the democratic process. The stakes here are high, and our demands for progressive political life have been met with meaningful obstacles.

Nowhere are the stakes clearer than in education, where our governor played a central role in protecting the interests of equitable public education for all. Governor McAuliffe fought the systematic privatization of our schools by vetoing House Bill 2342 and Senate Bill 1283, which were designed to advance the charter industry by diverting public funds to support charter schools founded through the establishment of regional charter divisions. He vetoed Senate Bill 1240, which would have enshrined full-time online education in the executive branch of our state government through the construction of an agency governed independently from the state department of education. Governor McAuliffe vetoed House Bill 1605, which would have diverted state funds from our public schools for use on services outside the public school system, depriving our schools of their rightful resources and funding instead privatized educational services.

What do we make of McAuliffe’s extensive veto history? Researching education policy trends at the state level, I’ve discovered how extensive pressures have become to disempower schools and teachers, shifting precious funds toward corporate interests. Without McAuliffe’s willingness to use executive privilege to disrupt this process, Virginia would be much farther along on the path to advanced educational privatization. This reality raises my own sense of the stakes of our November election: without a governor in place who has committed to protecting the interest of public schools, there is substantial risk that our children will be forced to watch more resources drain from their schools and into privatized structures that remain out of reach for most to which many students will lack access.

Image by Edward Kimmel. Creative Commons license.

We have a candidate in 2017 that has promised to follow McAuliffe in protecting the interests of our children through strong leadership, committed advocacy, and — where all else fails — gubernatorial veto power. Ralph Northam has made clear his commitment to strengthening our public education system by pushing back against efforts at privatization, investing in early childhood education, by supporting our teachers through sustainable pay, and by reducing the power of high-stakes testing in our educational economy.

As I speak with Virginians about their hopes for public education and for their children, I see more clearly the central role our governor plays in securing equitable educational access. Ralph Northam has made a direct public commitment to use every tool at his disposal in service of our schools. I hope you will join me in supporting his campaign in any way possible: on the phones, in the streets, with your pocketbook, and (most importantly) in the voting booth.

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Kenya Gibson

Written by

Public ed advocate, parent, and eternal optimist. I represent the 3rd District on the Richmond City School Board. Opinions expressed are my own.

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