by Todd Truitt
In 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin was able to flip the education issue on Democrats to pull off a victory. In 2025, Democrats need to reclaim the education issue to flip the Governor’s mansion back. One way of doing that is by supporting the new statewide public school accountability system, which furthers core Democratic values. If Democrats don’t get out ahead of this issue, Republicans will use it as a political issue.
The Current Broken Accountability System in Virginia
The 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires states to have accountability systems in order to “measure and hold schools and districts responsible for raising student achievement for all students, and to prompt and support improvement where necessary.” However, referring to the current failure by many states to live up to their responsibility, a long-time New York Times editorial board member said recently:
The federal government made a disastrous choice a decade ago when it abandoned [a federal] accountability system (known as No Child Left Behind) that required schools to focus intently on helping the lowest-performing students catch up with their peers. Since [ESSA returned accountability systems to states], the already alarming achievement gaps that separate poor and wealthy children have only widened.
The COVID era demonstrated the failure of Virginia’s combined accountability and accreditation system. Virginia had some of the largest drops on the national NAEP exams, with the lowest performing students suffering the most. And yet, with accountability tied to accreditation, nearly the same number of Virginia schools were accredited last year as there were in 2019 (92% of VA schools in 2019-20 vs. 89% in 2022-23).
Barack Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has spoken out about the need for Virginia families to get more honest information (Quote Tweeting Andrew Rotherham, a member of the VBOE who is a Democrat, former Mark Warner appointee and current Youngkin appointee):
Maryland’s accountability system also had similar problems with showing COVID era-related achievement changes, and the new State Superintendent of Schools appointed by Governor Wes Moore (D) recently started a process to revamp it. Maryland’s Superintendent stated:
I don’t honestly think our accountability system is holding anyone accountable… The only way we’re going to get better is to be honest about where we are and then we’re honest about the strategies we need to put in place.
Fixing the Failed System of Disclosure to Parents and Communities
Virginia is far along in the process of revamping its accountability system. The VBOE officially began the revision process in August 2023, and a new Virginia K-12 school Accountability framework is expected to be finalized and approved by the Virginia Board of Education (VBOE) this summer. This new Accountability framework will provide more transparent data to parents and communities about the academic performance of their public schools, including addressing three key shortfalls of the current failed system:
- Separate Accountability and Accreditation. The Accountability system will NOT be tied to Accreditation, similar to most states. The new Accountability framework will enable more transparent and granular academic performance data for parents and communities, while the Accreditation system will focus on compliance. The new Accountability framework will also allow for better targeting of support to schools most in need, which is a core purpose of such systems under ESSA.
- Provide a Simple to Understand Summative Score. The Accountability system will be based on Academic Mastery, Academic Growth (for ES and MS), Graduation (for HS), and Academic Readiness (e.g., chronic absenteeism, advanced coursework, performance tasks). The VBOE has made clear the summative score will not be an A-F system, but will be something like Maryland has that is easily understandable (e.g., 4 categories or a numerical system).
- Use a Mastery Index. The Accountability System will provide additional credit to schools for students who score higher on SOL exams than Pass/Proficient. Presently, schools only get credit for moving students to Passing an SOL exam. A Mastery Index will promote academic excellence for all Virginia public schools and incentivize individual schools to develop each student to their fullest potential.
Some opponents have claimed that more public disclosure will result in more segregation of public schools as families and teachers flee poorly performing schools. But that’s an insult to Virginia families, communities and teachers. Most families and communities would want to help their local public school (a bedrock of their communities) if negative reporting was given on school academic performance. And teachers are trained professionals who are already able to research such information. Many teachers choose to work in underprivileged schools to make more of a difference.
Relatedly, opponents have criticized the fact that Academic Mastery will be weighted greater than Growth for both Elementary and Middle School. But the weighting of Mastery in Virginia’s system will be less than in Massachusetts for Elementary School, and equal to Massachusetts for Middle School. And as described above, Maryland’s accountability system that weighs Growth almost at parity with Mastery failed. Most importantly, the goal for families, teachers and communities is for students to reach Proficiency/Mastery, not endlessly grow towards it.
The Accountability Framework Supports Democratic Party Values
The new Accountability framework will promote core beliefs of the Democratic Party: government transparency, equity and a commitment to excellent public education for all. As President Barack Obama stated when signing ESSA:
“…I want this not just because it’s good for the students themselves, not just because it’s good for the communities involved, not only because it’s good for our economy, but because it really goes to the essence of what we are about as Americans.
There was a time I think when upward mobility was the hallmark of America. We’ve slipped on that front compared to other countries. And some of it is because where we used to be so far ahead of other countries in investing in education for every child, now on some indicators, we’ve been lagging behind. Hopefully, this is going to get us back out front.
There’s nothing more essential to living up to the ideals of this nation than making sure every child is able to achieve their God-given potential…”
Presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, a proud moderate, should publicly take the position to not support any legislation, or appoint any members to the VBOE who would support, lowering academic standards or decreasing public disclosure of academic data. Gray Davis in California made a similar pledge in 1998 for California Democrats to win back the governor’s office after similar battles over education, and helped enact a new accountability system shortly after taking office.
Any attempted rollback of the Accountability framework in whole or in part by Virginia Democrats would be politically unpopular and create an easy campaign issue for Republicans (with a likely veto while Governor Youngkin is in office). The Washington Post editorial board was very vocal against such actions during the McAuliffe and Northam administrations. Governor Youngkin (successfully) used them as a campaign issue in 2021, specifically pointing out how the McAuliffe administration’s changes to the Accreditation and Accountability system reduced disclosure of academic data to the public.
With the new Accountability framework, families, teachers and communities benefit from greater transparency and struggling schools benefit from better targeted support from their communities, all increasing support for the public school system in general. It is a win-win for Virginia Democrats, and for Virginia students, parents and communities.
Todd Truitt is a parent of two school-age children in Arlington County, Virginia. He is also the Chair of the Math Advisory Committee for Arlington Public Schools and active in the Arlington Democrats. He is a business transactions attorney and a Certified Public Accountant.