Op-ed by Angela Lynn
It was recently announced that my opponent Steve Landes was appointed to a joint subcommittee looking at the Virginia Preschool Initiative. This is curious since Mr. Landes has not been the best friend to education or educators while he has been in office.
In fact, in 2012 he was the only delegate, the only one, to vote against the creation of Virginia Preschool Initiative Local Grant Program (HB 144). He was the only person to vote against this bill not only once, but twice. In the Students and Early Education Subcommittee the vote was 7-1. He was the only nay. In the Education Committee the vote was 21-1. He was the only nay. After this bill passed the Education Committee, it went to the Appropriation Committee, on which Mr. Landes also sits, and was promptly tabled.
This isn’t some partisan legislation. It was meant to improve training for preschool educators, to create, outfit, or expand preschool classrooms, to ensure the availability of preschool education for the children of veterans, and to create innovative early childhood programs for rural communities where access to services is difficult. The legislation wasn’t putting the state in debt either. It was to be funded by “unused moneys allocated by the General Assembly towards the Virginia Preschool Initiative.”
As delegate I would support education at all levels. I know that Virginia can only continue to succeed if we invest in our most valuable resource, our children. By creating and keeping education jobs here in Virginia we can once again rise to the top of the nation in our public education.
Angela Lynn is the Democratic Party nominee for House of Delegates District 25.
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