WAYNESBORO — Diana Williams said equity was never a bad word until current Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration came into office in Virginia.
“The work that Virginia public school divisions have done around equity has benefited all of our children because it's giving each child the tools they need when they need them,” Williams wrote on Twitter Friday. “That's it. And you can't replace equity with opportunity. Period. Full stop.”
The chairperson of the Waynesboro School Board was responding to a letter from the Virginia Association of School Superintendents addressed to Jillian Balow, the state’s superintendent of public instruction. The letter was posted on social media Thursday by Mel Leonor of the Richmond Times Dispatch.
One section of the letter questioned the administration’s use of the term “equitable opportunities.”
“Quality education in Virginia has to be more than providing opportunities and hoping for the best,” said the letter, sent on behalf of all of the school superintendents in Virginia.
In 2018, a report by the United Way showed that 48% of households in Waynesboro fell into a category of families that earn above the federal poverty level but less than the basic cost of living for the state. Those families are commonly called the working poor.
“I'm in a community with high levels of poverty,” Williams tweeted. “These kids need equity. The bridge from poverty to opportunity is equity. There is no opportunity without equity.”
In a telephone interview with The News Leader Friday, Williams said that equity is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Across the state and not just in Waynesboro, Williams said students are getting what they need at that time. In her example, one day a child’s biggest need may be a clean set of clothes or a decent meal more than reviewing homework from the previous night. And if that’s what a kid needs to succeed it should be what they get.
“There shouldn’t be anything wrong with that except equity has now been turned into a dog whistle to use race as a tool to further the goals of privatizing our schools,” she said.
And that’s what this is leading to, Williams believes.
She said issues like Critical Race Theory and so called “divisive concepts” that the Youngkin administration have talked about in the first few months of their time in office is just smoke and mirrors to distract from the real issue.
Williams has recently been studying disaster capitalism, which is, simply put, profiting off of disaster. In the case of schools, there is a fear among some that disasters — from the Great Recession to the pandemic — could lead to for-profit schools.
“I can see the signs,” Williams said. “I can see it clearly now. The pandemic is used as a way to channel public funding from our schools into private organizations. That’s going to look like vouchers that can be used at private schools, charter schools that can be run by private organizations that don’t have to have the standards that we have. And some of them have absolutely zero experience in educating children.”
One of Youngkin’s goals has also been to restore excellence in education. Williams said that’s insulting to the hardworking educators in the state.
Balow came to Virginia after serving as Wyoming state superintendent of schools for seven years. Compare Virginia’s schools with those in Wyoming, said Williams.
In 2019 U.S. News and World Report put out a ranking of K-12 schools in the United States. Virginia ranked No. 10. Wyoming was No. 39. Two years later, in a report by personal finance site wallethub.com Virginia was fourth and Wyoming was 23rd.
“How can our governor have the audacity to say he’s going to bring back excellence to public education when we’re already doing it?” she said. “And not only that, we’re already doing it when we’re not even at peak funding. Imagine what we could do if we were properly funded every year?”
Williams ended her Twitter thread by saying her role is to serve her community
“And as part of my service, I believe it's imperative that I speak out against the things that will do irreparable harm to Waynesboro,” she wrote. “This attack on public education and targeting equity is harmful to our students and seeks to destroy the hard work of our professional educators.”
Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
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