The Senate version of the charter schools bill was introduced by Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg.
Also Thursday, the governor vetoed for the second year in a row legislation sponsored by Del. Dickie Bell that would have created a statewide virtual school program that would have provided Virginia students a full-time online education program.
The charter school legislation would have allowed eligible school divisions to establish regional charter schools governed by a regional board. Landes said the legislation was narrowly drawn and would have included at least one school in the regional division that failed two of the last three years to reach state accreditation. Landes said logically, two neighboring school divisions could partner on a regional charter school at the elementary, middle or high school level.
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Under current Virginia law, the creation of charter schools is left to each individual school board. Only nine charter schools exist in Virginia.
In announcing his veto, McAuliffe said: “establishing regional governing school boards that remove authority from local school boards and their members, this legislation proposes a governance model that is in conflict with the Constitution of Virginia.”
The governor said “public charter school arrangements are already available to divisions at the discretion of the local school board, which makes the ultimate decisions about the establishment, renewal and dissolution of charter schools with its division.”
Obenshain responded to McAuliffe’s veto saying he [Obenshain] has been “a passionate advocate’’ for charter schools. He said the schools offer “a lifeline for escaping a handful of failing school divisions.”
The senator said the governor’s veto leaves Virginia behind other states. “With charter schools recognized nationwide as a bipartisan educational solution to improve our children’s futures, Virginia remains far behind.”
Obenshain noted that Virginia has nine charter schools supporting 2,000 students while Florida has 500 charter schools.
Landes said the commonwealth is “already spending dollars for school systems that are failing. This [the vetoed legislation] is a tool to help them.”
In announcing his veto of the statewide virtual schools bill, McAuliffe said the legislation raises constitutional concerns. The governor said the bill would have created a new state agency outside the framework governing school divisions and boards.
Bell said the truth is “superintendents, principals and teachers’’ do not want a statewide virtual school.
In a press release, Bell said while Virginia is a leader in many areas “we continue to fall further and further behind with regard to virtual learning. Thirty states already have full-time virtual programs, and Virginia is still not one of them.”
Bell said the fight for virtual education is not over. He hopes a Republican can be elected Virginia governor in the fall, and that the new governor will sign his legislation creating a statewide system next year.
Currently, there are multiple virtual schools programs in the state, including one for K-12 that serves about 1,500 students.