Virginia Republicans had a golden opportunity to embrace a strong school choice measure in the upcoming session, one that would have used tax credits to allow just about everyone in the commonwealth to put their kids in the schools they thought best-matched their kids needs. The state’s largest tea party organizations were for it. Taxpayer groups were for it. But instead, the state’s GOP has decided to embrace the same tired, small-bore approach it’s tried and failed to enact for more than a decade.

As my colleague Josh Eboch writes, it didn’t have to be this way. Del Tag Greason showed interest in the tax credit idea, and initially agreed to patron the bill in the General Assembly. He recently backed out though, preferring instead to sign-on with a more limited measure patroned by fellow Republican Del. Jimmie Massie. Massie’s bill passed the House last year but, failed to clear the Senate Finance committee (whose Democratic members put on one of the more disturbing displays of self-parody I’ve ever seen).