NDP’s Upcoming Education Activities
By Mike Signer | February 7, 2012 | No Comments
Tonight after dinner, Virginians around the Commonwealth will sit down around their kitchen table. They’ll make out their monthly budget, look at refinancing their mortgage, and examine tution bills. They’ll rub their eyes and make another pot of coffee. And then they’ll think about their dreams and how to reach them.
They expect their leaders to work as hard as they do. But extremists in Richmond are ignoring things like job creation and education. Instead, they’re just rehashing the played-out “God, guns, and gays” playbook.
I’m with the folks at the kitchen table. At NDP, we’ve spent the last year fighting for the New Dominion. We’ve promoted innovators in the Valley and Northern Virginia, social justice reformers in Richmond and Southwest, and education reformers in Hampton Roads and Southside.
Now we’re turning our focus to fresh ideas on public education. As a Virginia public school and UVA Law graduate, a small businessman, and an educator at Virginia Tech, I firmly believe in the power of public education to build Virginia’s future — and give progressives an edge at the kitchen table. Here’s what we’re delivering in the coming weeks:
- On February 11th at the Jefferson-Jackson Day in Richmond, we’re holding an NDP Coffee Break called “Fresh Ideas for the Future”: an open discussion about two new NDP Strategy Papers on K-12 and higher ed. Time/place: 2:30 - 3:30 p.m., Starbucks, Richmond Marriott, 500 E. Broad St., Richmond.
- On February 21st, we’ll release NDP’s first Strategy Paper, titled “Opportunity, Innovation, Investment: Bringing Higher Ed into the Future” at a panel including Senator Barbara Favola (D-Arlington), Senator John Edwards (D-Roanoke), Dr. Kendra Hamilton, former Mayor of Charlottesville, and Dak Hardwick of the Harris Corporation. Time/place: 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., Room 3E, General Assembly Building, 1000 Bank St., Richmond
- On March 7, we’ll release another NDP Strategy Paper, titled “Excellence, Equity, Opportunity: K-12 Education Reform” in a panel including Abby Raphael, Chair of the Arlington County School Board, Andy Rotherham, Time Magazine columnist and Partner, Bellwether Education Partners, and Dmitri Mehlhorn, COO of Students First. Time/place: 7:00 p.m., Arlington County Democratic Committee, NRECA Building, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Arlington.
Fresh ideas like these will help take Virginia to the next level, and we’d love your feedback and support. Please send suggestions and RSVPs to [email protected].
