Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
chapter
Virginia Standards of Accreditation [8 VAC 20 ‑ 132]
Action Revisions to the Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia
Stage Final
Comment Period Ended on 9/25/2024
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9/24/24  7:42 pm
Commenter: Sara Johnson-Ward

Accreditation Standards
 

Please reject any accreditation standards that will label students as "bad", "failing", or that classify schools as "derelict". Virginia has good schools. In 2020, per Forbes and WalletHub, Virginia's schools were fourth in the nation (https://www.forbes.com/sites/reneemorad/2020/08/04/states-with-the-best-public-schools/).  CNBC ranks Virginia's schools some of the best in the nation recently (https://cardinalnews.org/2024/07/15/for-sixth-time-virginia-is-rated-top-state-for-business-here-are-10-takeaways-from-those-cnbc-ratings/). The desire to re-rank them for  the benefit of profiteers is bad for children and Virginia's real estate market. Manipulating data for desired talking points is unfair - a basic premise of good governance is fairness. Perhaps policies that lift students up should be considered instead (ie., the JLARC funding study). This is not to suggest that students be "passed" when truly unsuccessful, but providing them resources to achieve seems like significantly better policy. Instead this process ensures Virginia will spend millions of dollars on tests that tell us what we already know - economics matter. Imagine using test funds to truly improve outcomes instead of predicting them. On the heels of COVID-19, with parents sounding alarms about rising anxiety and depression, it is hard to imagine that Virginia will punish these same students for "not keeping up" or "getting up to speed" on an arbitrary schedule set by the state. Please slow down, think through the implications of the policy shift - good and bad - and do no harm. Lift up Virginia's students, don't put them down. 

CommentID: 227896