Virginia’s House of Delegates voted Thursday to grant the state a greater role in creating new charter schools, while a Senate subcommittee did away with a host of bills that would have unraveled long-standing gun control laws.
The action in the Republican-controlled House represented a victory for new Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell. The Democratic-majority Senate, however, issued a rebuke to a governor who campaigned with an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association and had promised to sign the “one gun a month” repeal if it reached his desk.
Charter schools, also part of McDonnell’s campaign platform, are legal but still scarce in Virginia. The bill from Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Woodbridge, which passed 65-35, would allow the state to vet charter school applications and offer advice that could help them pass local school boards.
Several Democratic delegates stood on the House floor to blast the legislation, which they argued would benefit only a small number of students at great cost.
Charter schools, which are publicly funded, are granted greater autonomy than traditional schools, offering options such as specialized curriculum or longer school days.
“Scarce tax dollars should not be used to promote inequality,” said Del. Kenneth Alexander, D-Norfolk.
Proponents had said the bill would put Virginia in a better position to capture federal education dollars, although the state found out Thursday it had lost out on a piece of the Obama administration’s $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” grants.
Lingamfelter defended his proposal as “a good process bill” that will “help us in Virginia reform education.” Its original version would have given the state final authority to approve charter applications; that idea that was scrapped to win favor with education groups. The Senate’s education committee also advanced a similar bill.
Among the 10 gun bills killed by the Senate Courts of Justice panel Thursday were a repeal of the Wilder-era one-per-month purchase limit and a measure that would have declared Virginia-manufactured firearms exempt from federal law.
The special subcommittee, populated by four Democrats and one Republican, was created specifically to dispatch a raft of Republican legislation from the House.
