Va. House passes McDonnell's A-F School Grading Bill

Governor Bob McDonnell has been pounding the pavement for his A-F School Grading Bill, part of his overall K-12 Education legislation for the 2013 General Assembly session. Friday he held a press conference with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to further explain why he is looking for this change, something Gov. Bush is very familiar with since Florida implemented it in 1989. My post on that phone conference is here.

Today the Virginia House of Delegates passed the A-F School Grading Bill along bipartisan lines. The Governor released the following statement regarding that passage:

“I was pleased by the bipartisan support in the House of Delegates for our commonsense plan to bring more transparency and accountability to Virginia’s public schools. I encourage my friends in the Senate to support this legislation that will provide a simpler way to understand a school’s performance on the state’s accreditation system.   Parents and families will have another tool to advocate for and achieve better schools for their communities. If we aren’t giving students in every zip code the opportunity for a world-class education, we have failed them. It’s time for Virginia to adapt this common sense A-F school grading system that has been successfully implemented in other states and will help us continue to make real improvements in the quality of our children’s education.”

A vote by the Virginia Senate will probably take place Tuesday.