Winsome Earle-Sears has a long record of supporting legislation that would cut funding from Virginia’s public schools 

 
VIRGINIA – New reporting from the Daily Progress highlights local leaders slamming Winsome Earle-Sears for her extreme record attacking public education and wanting to defund public schools. The Daily Progress reports that Delegate Katrina Callsen called out Sears saying:   
 
“We should be investing in education, making it easier for students to succeed, not harder,” Del. Katrina Callsen said at the Aug. 13 press conference. “And Virginia deserves the leader that understands that; Winsome Earle-Sears is not that leader.” [...] she added. “What I see is chaos: hacking away at funding without a plan means removing funding for programs like Head Start, reducing services and supports for students with disabilities.”
 

The Daily Progress: Charlottesville Dems blast Earle-Sears' education platform — or lack thereof

• Democrat Abigail Spanberger announced her plan for Virginia’s K-12 education on Aug. 8. [...] the former U.S. representative called for an increase in school funding, a modernizing of the state’s standardized tests and incentives and initiatives to address the teacher shortage.
• Earle-Sears has not formally announced a plan. The only information available on her campaign website is a single statement [...]’
• Moreover, her campaign has not responded to inquiries from the press, including The Daily Progress.
• State Sen. Creigh Deeds said if Virginians want to know about Earle-Sears’ education priorities they need only look to her boss.
• “We’ve had a Republican governor that’s been running for president the whole time; his focus has not been on the commonwealth of Virginia or its people. I’m excited about the possibility that Abigail Spanberger brings because she is a leader,” Deeds said. “I’m confident that if we get her elected, we’re going to make real change over the next four years.”
• Back in 2022, the year [Glenn Youngkin] took office, Virginia reported steep declines in both math and reading scores [...]
• [...] Testing through the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called “the Nation’s Report Card,” shows Virginia students made no significant improvements between 2022 and 2024.
• Charlottesville Democrats say Virginians cannot expect much better from Youngkin’s second-in-command should she succeed him.
• “We should be investing in education, making it easier for students to succeed, not harder,” Del. Katrina Callsen said at the Aug. 13 press conference. “And Virginia deserves the leader that understands that; Winsome Earle-Sears is not that leader.”
• “Her platform is based on rhetoric, not substance,” she added. “What I see is chaos: hacking away at funding without a plan means removing funding for programs like Head Start, reducing services and supports for students with disabilities.”
• Head Start is a federal education program for children under 5 which provides services aimed at promoting academic, social and emotional development for low-income families. Republicans in Washington have been weighing drastic cuts to the program.
• Callsen said that work would be made easier with a governor in the Executive Mansion who actually has a plan, someone that is about “policy, evidence-based solutions that are going to help our children succeed.”

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