A mother sits at her kitchen table late at night, scrolling through the state’s school report. Her seventh-grade son still struggles to read. Math homework ends in frustration and tears. She’s been told to be patient, that the school is “improving.”
The report says the school partially meets standard. Growth looks strong. Support plans are in place.
But when she asks the only question that really matters—Are most kids actually reading and doing math at grade level?—the answer is still no.
That gap between what families are told and what students experience is exactly what HB 643 threatens to make permanent.
HB 643 rewrites how Virginia labels and scores school performance. While it sounds more equitable, it makes chronic underperformance harder for parents to see and harder to challenge. The bill shifts accountability away from whether students meet academic standards and toward “growth” on paper, even when most students remain below proficiency. Growth matters, but growth without mastery still leaves children unprepared.
Worse, HB 643 reduces how much failing counts in school ratings. In plain terms, failure matters less. Schools can earn higher labels even if fewer students are mastering reading and math. For low-income families and communities of color who have been promised progress for decades, this feels like the goalposts moving again.
If we care about civil rights and student outcomes, we must demand an accountability system that tells families what’s really happening and pushes schools to do better.
A mother sits at her kitchen table late at night, scrolling through the state’s school report. Her seventh-grade son still struggles to read. Math homework ends in frustration and tears. She’s been told to be patient, that the school is “improving.” The report says the school partially meets standard. Growth looks strong. Support plans are in place. But when she asks the only question that really matters—Are most kids actually reading and doing math at grade level?—the answer is still no. That gap between what families are told and what students experience is exactly what HB 643 threatens to make permanent. HB 643 rewrites how Virginia labels and scores school performance. While it sounds more equitable, it makes chronic underperformance harder for parents to see and harder to challenge. The bill shifts accountability away from whether students meet academic standards and toward “growth” on paper, even when most students remain below proficiency. Growth matters, but growth without mastery still leaves children unprepared. Worse, HB 643 reduces how much failing counts in school ratings. In plain terms, failure matters less. Schools can earn higher labels even if fewer students are mastering reading and math. For low-income families and communities of color who have been promised progress for decades, this feels like the goalposts moving again. If we care about civil rights and student outcomes, we must demand an accountability system that tells families what’s really happening and pushes schools to do better.