FamilyFoundationBlog.com

During the last General Assembly, thanks to your faithful help, we were very proud to see the General Assembly pass, and Governor Tim Kaine sign, two common sense laws concerning Virginia’s Family Life Education curriculum. The bipartisan support for these and other bills that became law proves The Family Foundation’s legislative agenda is practical, common sense and broadly supported by the public.

But just as the Choose Life license plates law is less “law” than practical, problem solving tool, these FLE “laws” are more much needed education reforms — either something that went awry and needed correction, or something that never was and should have always been. 

One of the two FLE reforms that went into effect today adds the value and benefits of marriage to the FLE guidelines for Virginia’s public schools. Shockingly, prior to today, there was no positive reference to marriage in these guidelines! Now, this modest change, suggested by our Marriage Commission, will allow the current and future generations to become educated in, and to take the first step toward, healthy marriages and families. Beginning this fall, local schools that teach Family Life Education should be prepared to talk about the value and benefits of marriage to students. 

The second law in this realm requires local school boards to better notify parents regarding what is being taught in Family Life Education so that parents can make a more informed decision about whether their children should participate. Schools now will be required to send parents a detailed summary of the materials that are to be taught. This not only is a much needed reform of Virginia’s education system, it is a much needed restoration of parental rights.

Armed with these two recently passed Family Life Education reforms, parents should feel empowered come fall to inquire about what is being taught in FLE and ensure that the value and benefits of marriage are taught in their children’s FLE classes. That means accepting the responsibility to insist they are not ignored as idle “laws on the books,” but emphatically used as the much needed improvements they are.

U.S. Senator Mark Warner likes to position himself as the consummate middle man — not one, says he of himself, of either extreme. We’re not so sure of that. After all, the man couldn’t bring himself to sign the partial birth abortion law when he was governor. The General Assembly, with broad bipartisan support, overrode him on it. Supporting the extreme brutality of partial birth abortion isn’t exactly a middle of the road position. 

However, Virginia’s new junior senator did show some good policy sense as well a bit of bravery in bucking the majority of his party on March 10. He was one of only two Democrats who voted to keep Washington, D.C.’s school choice law from expiring (see the Club For Growth here). We applaud him for that. (West Virginia’s Robert Byrd was the other Democrat and Connecticut’s independent, Joe Lieberman, who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted to extend the law.) Nevertheless, the amendment failed. Unless something changes, D.C. school children, who have vastly improved their test scores and other measurements of success over the last several years because of the school choice law, will revert to the old, monopolistic, failed public school paradigm — Go to school where you’re told young man and young lady!

Of course, modern American liberalism claims to be for change, moving forward, progress, and not returning to the “old, backward ways” that conservatism supposedly represents. But educational choice and the competition it fosters among schools is change from the old ways; it has moved D.C. students forward in their educational development; and, accordingly, they have made progress in their lives. Allowing school choice to die in D.C. is a return to the old ways of the ineffective, inefficient education monopoly — unless, of course, you are extremely wealthy and can afford the suburban D.C. prep schools. So, which philosophy represents the little guy?

Everyone agrees education is one of the pillars in leading a productive life. Yet some in Congress apparently don’t want disadvantaged students to get that leg up, despite the popularity of school choice among D.C.’s parents, politicians and students.

President Obama campaigned in favor of school choice while sending his children to elite private schools. It remains to be seen whether he will try to rectify this sad turn of legislative events. His endeavors to exert government control over currently free enterprises is not a good omen for fostering competition in government run schools. However, at least Mark Warner understood. Although we may disagree with him on many other issues, at least on this one, he deserves extra credit.