For Democrats and Democrat Socialists: "The Founders knew that a democracy would lead to some kind of tyranny. The term democracy appears in none of our Founding documents. Their vision for us was a Republic and limited government." - Walter E. Williams "Most of the great problems we face are caused by politicians creating solutions to problems they created in the first place." -Walter E. Williams "(F)or 50 years, the well-meaning leftist agenda has been able to do to blacks what Jim Crow and harsh discrimination could never have done: family breakdown, illegitimacy and low academic achievement." ~ Walter E. Williams “You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.” -Thomas Sowell “Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous. Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export.... Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea -- in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders.”-Thomas Sowell "When the history of the 20th century is finally written, one of its key features will be the wanton slaughter of more than 170 million people, not in war, but by their own government. The governments that led in this slaughter are the former USSR (65 million) and the Peoples Republic of China (35-40 million). The point to remember is that these governments were the idols of America's leftists. Part of the reason for these and other tyrannical successes was because the people were first disarmed." -Walter E. Williams "Democracy and liberty are not the same. Democracy is little more than mob rule, while liberty refers to the sovereignty of the individual." -Walter E. Williams "There are people in need of help. Charity is one of the nobler human motivations. The act of reaching into one's own pockets to help a fellow man in need is praiseworthy and laudable. Reaching into someone else's pocket is despicable and worthy of condemnation." -Walter E. Williams

I would ask that you would stop passing bills without considering the time it will take away from school personnel by adding another task to their already full plate. It is also not helpful to burden taxpayers in local communities with all the unfunded mandates. Also, why would we allow any Virginia students replace Virginia history and civic requirements with International Baccalaureate coursework? If they are students in Virginia, they should know the history of their state and their civic duties as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Thank you for your consideration. Karen M Wirsing

The government decided to make all title one school lunches, free. Plenty of parents are able to pay. Go back to the pay as you go system and those on welfare can get school lunches for free.

No child should go hungry, but SB42 shifts responsibility for unpaid meal debt onto local school boards, creating a costly mandate that diverts limited education funds away from classrooms. School boards do not control family income, federal meal eligibility rules, or participation in assistance programs. Requiring divisions to absorb uncollectible debt effectively forces local taxpayers to cover costs that should be addressed through federal nutrition programs or targeted state support. This mandate could mean fewer resources for teachers, instructional materials, and student services, all to backfill a systemic funding gap. A better solution is to expand direct assistance to families and improve enrollment in free and reduced-price meal programs.

Please pass this important bill