At Tuesday morning’s Chamber of Commerce debate in Lansdowne, I directly asked Republican Delegate Randy Minchew if he supported his ticketmate Ken Cuccinelli’s education plan. According to estimates, that plan would cut an estimated $22.1 million from Loudoun schools, as well as $5.9 million from Frederick schools and $770,000 from Clarke schools. Those cuts are projected to displace over 8100 students and result in over 450 teacher layoffs in the three counties.
In his 90-second reply and in several subsequent comments, Minchew completely ignored the question and critical issue at hand.
We need a Delegate who will stand up against the Cuccinelli-Minchew education cuts. That wasn’t a hard question, and this isn’t a hard issue. In this economy, education is a more critical priority than ever. My opponent was asked a simple question, and he failed the test. If that’s the approach he’s going to take with our fundamental concerns, then our children’s futures are in jeopardy.
We can’t let that happen. We need to prepare our kids for the jobs of tomorrow, not put them at a disadvantage from the moment they step in our schools. Students, parents and teachers in Loudoun County are already struggling to deal with the cuts made by the Board of Supervisors, which have caused unsafe conditions for our kids. The last thing we need is to gut our public schools even further.
Randy Minchew has once again turned his back on our community’s needs to follow Ken Cuccinelli’s ideological agenda. We don’t need a partisan in the House of Delegates – we need a problem-solver. As Delegate, I’ll focus on delivering results for our kids and our community by working across the aisle to improve the STEM-Health curriculum in our schools, to expand vocational training programs, and to build partnerships with private companies that can offer their expertise to help educate our students.
Please support our campaign and find out more at www.monteforvirginia.com
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
