McDonnell Gets a Charter Boost from the WaPo

While Bob McDonnell supporters shouldn't take it as a sign that the Post will endorse him in the Fall, the paper's support for his charter school push should help to make education a more central issue in the campaign.

It may also help flush Creigh Deeds from his cover:

Mr. Deeds's education stance is less defined. His Web site promises that he will make college more accessible and affordable, expand pre-kindergarten opportunities, and provide more money for teachers. Mr. Deeds says that he supports charter schools but, as the Richmond Times-Dispatch noted, he is less enthusiastic than Mr. McDonnell is. Mr. Deeds did vote for a bill during this year's legislative session to remove limitations on the number of charter schools a school board may approve. Sadly, though, he doesn't want to deny local school boards the power to control the start-up of charters in the misguided belief that it would drain money from public education; never mind that charters are public schools.

I suspect that so long as the VEA maintains its hostility to charters of any sort, that no Democrat running for office will fully embrace the idea.

Of course, one of the great problems with charters in the state is that the law allowing their existence is pitifully weak and the General Assembly shows little inclination to change it. Add to this the constitutional problems confronting expanded charters and the entire debate may be pointless without profound changes elsewhere.

A way around all of this, of course, is through education tax credits. They avoid the constitutional and mechanical obstacles facing charters and expand the choice pool to all students and families while saving the state money.

The Virginia Institute has a study on this approach coming out very soon.