Richmond Times-Dispatch - Cantor Touts School Choice At Richmond Charter Visit

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By Olympia Meola

The latest stop for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on his school tour was Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts in Richmond, one of a handful of public charter schools in Virginia.

On Friday, Cantor, R-7th, read with students, scoped out classrooms and spoke with parents about their decision to send their children to Patrick Henry as opposed to a traditional public school.

Cantor has spent time in recent month studying the subject of school choice, making visits to Louisiana to learn more about the education policies pursued by Gov. Bobby Jindal and to the Preparatory School of DC.

Since February, through a series of speeches, Cantor has outlined elements of a policy agenda that places less emphasis on federal budget math and more on education, medical research and flexible work time.

"One of our priorities this year will be to move heaven and earth to fix our education system for the most vulnerable," he said in March at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

In a basement library in the Richmond school, Cantor queried school staff and parents on the school and the choice they made for their children.

Gwen Lewis, a retired Richmond public school teacher, said she chose to send her grandson to Patrick Henry because of his affinity for science. She was pleased with the public elementary school that he had been attending, but the science focus at the charter school caught her attention.

Cantor noted Lewis' case as an example of a choice she had for her grandson.

"I always say my wife and I chose to go and live where we do so that our kids could go to the schools that they do," he said after the program. His children attended public schools in Henrico County.

There are "a lot of folks in the commonwealth who don't have that luxury, and we ought to figure out a way how to expand choices for parents," he said.

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