What I’m thinking about as Virginia students head back to school

The fight for strong public schools is deeply personal to me.

I grew up in a middle class family, attended good public schools, and was the first in my family to graduate from college, which I couldn’t have done without student loans.

I first ran for office because I believe every Virginian deserves the same fair shot I had. And that starts with our public schools.

Before the Senate, I served as your Governor. After my term in the Governor’s office, I’m proud that Virginia was named the “Best State for a Lifetime of Education.” In the Senate, I helped secure more than $2 billion for Virginia’s K-12 schools. That money protected classroom resources and kept teachers and staff on the job through the pandemic.

I fought to bring high-speed internet to rural Virginia. And soon, we’ll be one of the first states in the country with universal broadband – so every student has the tools they need to learn in the 21st century.

But there’s more to do.

We have to keep schools fully funded. We have to raise teacher pay in Virginia above the national average. And we have to make sure every student is ready for the jobs of the future.

Over the next few years, artificial intelligence is going to disrupt our workforce unlike anything we’ve seen.

Recent college grad unemployment is already at 9% and it’s only going to keep rising if we don’t act. So here is what I am doing about it:

• I’m leading a bipartisan effort to make sure the government actually tracks how AI is impacting jobs, community by community.

• I also introduced the first bipartisan bill that starts the process of building reskilling pathways so that workers can remain competitive in today’s economy.

• Third, we’ve got to encourage young people to go into careers where we know AI won’t disrupt as quickly and we have unmet demand for a larger workforce – like health care, education, and building trades.

As many Virginia students start their first day of school today, we ought to acknowledge that the challenges facing their generation are huge.

I’m running for reelection because we need to get this transition right and make sure working Virginians – not the giant tech companies – are the ones who stand to benefit from this new technology.

Thank you for being a part of this campaign and staying engaged through the critical work that lies ahead.

And to every Virginia student, parent, or educator reading this message, I hope you have a great start to the new school year!

More soon,

Mark Warner

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