Having passed
the Senate 24-15 with good bipartisan support, Senator Janet Howell’s SB 905, a
VEA initiative, was defeated on a voice vote in House Finance Committee
Subcommittee #2 on a voice vote. No fingerprints!
You may
remember that the tuition tax credit provisions in the
Code of Virginia prescribe insufficient accountability requirements for the
“eligible schools,” and don’t provide adequate information to facilitate an
accurate comparison of these schools for interested parents. Requiring
these schools to compile the results of “any national norm referenced test”
seems wholly inadequate if parents are to make informed choices of schools.
It is incredible that the General Assembly,
which is so intent in holding our public schools accountable has no interest in
holding the private schools receiving public dollars accountable.
