Education policy based on results, not rhetoric

Opinion

Well, the campaign season for the General Assembly Election in November is upon us. This will be increasingly evident as we endure a parade of negative attacks and falsehoods that will emerge in the weeks and months ahead. I wish it wasn’t so. People—voters—deserve the truth, not false and misleading rhetoric. That is why I am personally responding to the article penned by Jane Touchet, chairman of the Democratic Women of Lake Ridge, attacking me in support of my challenger, Sara Townsend.

Ms. Touchet, a partisan Democrat who doesn’t reside in the district that I serve, says “Mr. Lingamfelter has proven again and again that he is no friend of public education”. Really? Let’s review the facts.

My wife Shelley has taught in public schools since 1974. She and I educated all three of our children in public schools in Prince William. Both Shelley and I routinely volunteered for school activities and gave our time and resources to help in any way we could.

Shelley, who just retired from the Prince William County Schools system, has always been my best advisor on education matters. I listen to her and, as the second most senior member of the House Education Committee; I have always been an advocate for our teachers.

Let’s review some facts. Ms Touchet claims that I “cut millions” from public education. But consider this. According to Appropriations Committee data, from 2002 through the current fiscal year, General Fund spending for K-12 increased by about $1.7 billion, or 43%. But over that same period of time, the total revenue amount from all General Fund sources increased by just under $3.0 billion, or 41%. In other words, over this period of time even when budgeting was tough, the General Assembly opposed cutting public education (except one year when the recession hit) and funded education at a rate higher than the general revenue coming in. And we are still working, even now, to bring education spending back to pre-recession levels. But we are doing so in a fiscally responsible manner so we address all of our core responsibilities.

Here are some other things to consider that I voted for (and we passed) just this year in support of education:

I voted to reduce the number of SOL tests in grades 3 through 8, from 22 to 17 so teachers can spend more time in actual instruction of our kids.
I voted for legislation that passed to expedite SOL re-take tests and require schools to submit less paperwork to Richmond.
And having heard the concerns of parents about the confusing and varying standards at Virginia colleges for accepting credit for AP coursework, I helped pass legislation this year to standardize this system and remove any confusion on getting AP credits accepted by our colleges.
This budget cycle, I voted for $861 million in additional K-12 funding to support our teachers and help our students. We made no cuts to K-12 education when addressing Virginia’s $2.4 billion revenue shortfall. In fact, Virginia is spending more on K-12 education than was spent under the last budget adopted under Democrat Governor Tim Kaine. And unlike what Virginia Democrats wanted to do at the time, we’ve been able to invest in our education system without raising taxes.
I voted to provide our teachers with a 1.5% pay raise, the second pay raise in three years.
As a senior member on the House Appropriations Committee, I supported an overall increase of $60 million for K-12 education compared to Governor McAuliffe’s budget proposal.
And I supported a deposit of an additional $43 million into teacher retirement fund compared to Governor McAuliffe’s budget proposal, bringing the total deposit to $193 million.

These are just a few of the important K-12 education reforms and actions that passed this year—with my support—that will ensure all Virginia students have access to a good education.

So I ask you, does this sound like an “unfriendly” posture to public education? To the contrary, I have been a solid and reliable supporter of public education. And I will continue to support efforts to hire and retain great teachers, fund quality education for our kids, require accountability to the parents and tax-payers that fund education, and offer real reforms, not partisan rhetoric that has utterly no basis in fact. So to Ms. Touchet, I would simply say, touché. And in the future, let’s center the debate on ideas, not negative and false attacks.

*Scott Lingamfelter is currently a delegate in Virginia’s 31st House district.