The future of Gov. Bob McDonnell's education reforms could be decided in a Senate panel Thursday morning, hours before the state expects to learn whether it is a finalist in the Obama administration's education grant program.
Among the reforms championed by the Obama administration is charter schools, which McDonnell is seeking to make easier to open in Virginia through legislation the Senate Education and Health Committee will address Thursday.
The measures face uncertain prospects in that panel, where members previously expressed concerns about opening new kinds of schools when the General Assembly is making cuts to public education.
Meantime, the House of Delegates gave preliminary approval to the charter school measure today.
The vote followed floor speeches in which some lawmakers cited the state's scarred racial history and expressed concerns over funding, timing and trust.
Del. James M. Shuler, D-Montgomery, conveyed a fear that the governor could amend the bill and send it back to the House in an altered form. "Something is going on amiss," he said.
McDonnell's original legislation gave the state Board of Education -- appointed by the governor -- power to overrule elected local school boards on approving charter applications.
Compromise language fashioned with education associations leaves final approval of the applications with local school boards. The state board would review the applications and make a recommendation to the local board.
Tucker Martin, a spokesman for McDonnell, said the governor "is committed to working with the stakeholder groups involved in its crafting to ensure that the legislation remains as it is, and that any possible amendments have the same consensus and support from all parties.
"Hopefully we can now return to discussing the legislation on its merits," he said.
Virginia's application seeks $350 million through the Obama administration's Race to the Top competitive grant program.
Shuler and other Democratic delegates said today that the state should not base this decision on the potential of federal funding through the grant program.
Further, if charter schools benefit from greater flexibility, then the state should extend that to all public schools, they argued.
"I think we risk creating two competing systems fighting over taxpayer dollars," said Del. William K. Barlow, D-Isle of Wight. "Public schools are a precious asset that we have got to guard zealously."
State law already allows charter schools, and this bill adds a process for reviewing and approving applications, said Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William, one of the bill's sponsors in the House. He said there was no hidden agenda.
The Senate is also scheduled to vote Thursday morning on other McDonnell-backed measures to create college partnership lab schools and to create a framework for approving companies that offer virtual school programming to the state's public school students. Both of those measures passed House committees today.
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