School choice governors elected in NJ and VA

North Carolina policy makers and advocates of parental school choice have taken interest in the outcomes of recent elections to our north. Why? Because in New Jersey and Virginia, voters elected two new governors who support parental school choice, Gov.-Elect Chris Christie in New Jersey and Gov.-Elect Bob McDonnell in Virginia. Throughout both of their respective campaigns, Christie and McDonnell stressed the importance of parental school choice and educational reform.

In New Jersey, Christie campaigned on a platform that included expanding access to charter schools and a corporate scholarship tax credit program that would allow low-income students to go to the private schools of their parents’ choice. At his first post-election news conference — held at a charter school in Newark — Christie vowed that he would "empower parents to send their children where they can be most successful." He likely will have the bipartisan support of New Jersey democrats who have been promoting a scholarship tax credit program for more than two years.

In Virginia, McDonnell — who has supported scholarship tax credits in the past — campaigned on reforming Virginia’s charter school law, which allows only for local school boards to authorize the creation of charters. The Obama Administration's strong support for charter schools gives McDonnell a genuine opportunity to build a bipartisan coalition for expansion.

Here in North Carolina, charter school policy remains a hotly contested issue. So much so, in fact, that charter schools recently filed a lawsuit to force counties and school districts to consider their requests for the same capital funds traditional schools receive for buildings, new buses and equipment. Legislation to increase the cap on charters stalled earlier this year, much like proposed educational tax credits to assist families of special needs children.

At a time when politics often trump real issues, North Carolinians may feel encouraged that our neighbors to the north could indicate a trend to bring about meaningful educational reform through bipartisan efforts.