Lawmakers Reject Governor's Amendments to Jefferson-Houston 'Takeover' Bill

The General Assembly has rejected Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s changes to an education bill affecting Alexandria's Jefferson-Houston School.

“This leaves him with the option of signing a very problematic bill and hoping the General Assembly will fix it next year,” said Del. Rob Krupicka (D-45th).

He hopes the governor will veto the bill.

“I’d like to see the governor veto this bill and put in a place a commission to develop a proposal for the next General Assembly session for the best way to help these schools,” Krupicka said.

He highlighted that the General Assembly convening in January will “have one more crack at this before any takeover can happen,” he said.

McDonnell signed legislation creating the Opportunity Educational Institution, but made amendments before signing it.

• See: State to Intervene in Jefferson-Houston School

The school, which serves pre-K through 8th grade, has been marked as one of six chronically failing schools in Virginia. Neighborhoods including Old Town, Del Ray and the new Potomac Yard are in the Jefferson-Houston school district.

Krupicka, who represents Alexandria and parts of Arlington and Fairfax counties, commended the governor for his desire to fix the state’s lowest performing schools, but said the Education Opportunity Institute isn’t the solution.

• See: Krupicka: State Bills Could Spell Trouble for Jefferson-Houston

The governor plans to create a body as of July 1 that would have the ability to intervene in the state’s lowest performing schools. The body has funding of $150,000. It would not begin to intervene in the handful of failing schools around the state until the 2014-2015 school year.

Krupicka said the body would have to come before the state legislature to ask for additional funding. The governor had asked for $600,000 to fund the venture, but lawmakers allocated much less than that. Krupicka said Republicans generally were not in favor of allocating more money so that the institution would not grow too fast without proper guidance.

Krupicka, a former member of the Virginia Board of Education, argues that the largest failings with the governor’s plan “involve its disregard for the Department of Education and Board of Education as well as local governing bodies and parents.”

He said Alexandria City Public Schools could review several options that would prevent a state take over at Jefferson-Houston such as morphing it into a charter school, breaking it into two schools similar to George Washington Middle School, turning it into an elementary school, partnering with an outside school to turn it into a lab school or working with a university that could use it as a research place, among other options.

The bill currently addresses chronically failing schools and not those that are dangerously near failing status, which include some in Alexandria's West End.