Gov. Bob McDonnell signed two bills into law yesterday at the Education School to establish College Partnership Laboratory schools, which will take advantage of resources at education schools at Virginia's public universities in an attempt to improve the learning experience of Virginia's K-12 schoolchildren. The bills drew bipartisan support in the Virginia legislature, gaining the approval of roughly three-fourths of both the Senate and House of Delegates when they passed through both bodies last week.
Funds for the program will come through appropriations from the General Assembly and additional private funding obtained by the lab schools' governing boards. Admission to the schools will be determined by a lottery process and no tuition will be charged.
Surrounded by local, state and University leadership, the governor called the initiative a "historic new partnership between our higher education and our K-12 systems." The program will be key to his "Opportunity to Learn" education reform legislative agenda.
He and other state delegates who spoke at yesterday's event noted that these schools will look to make teaching methods more innovative and seek to lessen the administrative barriers that often weigh down large public schools.
"Encouraging our primary and secondary schools to partner with these top-notch institutions of higher learning will increase the opportunities available, and the potential for achievement, for our school-age children," said Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, who served as chief co-patron of the legislation in the House.
Some have criticized the bill, however, noting that it moves the onus on educating students away from the state's public school system.
"Why not just shut down the public schools?" asked Del. Lionel Spruill, D-Chesapeake, as reported by The Virginian-Pilot. "We've got three new kinds of schools now: charter schools, virtual schools and laboratory schools."
The idea for these laboratory partner schools, McDonnell said, originated with Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones, who attempted to initiate a similar bill in 2006 as a member of the House. The schools will require teachers to hold a Virginia Board of Education license, or if the instructor is a student at the university with which the lab school is affiliated, he will need to be eligible to hold a license through the state.
University Provost Tim Garson, who the governor said "put the weight of the University and the Curry School behind this bill," said the leadership opportunity within the laboratory school program "complements what we do here already," as it will allow Education students to gain classroom experience once the program takes root at the University.
Sandra Cohen, the director of teacher education in the Education School, said the program will help to train the next generation of teachers and to "develop new, innovative teaching strategies." Moreover, these teachers likely will be more open to testing and attempting new approaches with students in the classroom, she said.
Fourth-year Education student Lori Colasuonno said the program will "do a lot for University-community relations."
She also expressed satisfaction that the program uses local resources to address local issues.
"We have a lot of resources in public colleges," she said. "I really appreciate the idea of looking into the community to fix problems"
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