Despite being an elected official for only a few short months, Delegate Candi King (D-2nd) has already made a major impact, especially in the field of education. Among the many bills that she has supported during the General Assembly, the most significant one was HB 2316, which requires the Board of Education to amend its regulations to ensure that each education preparation program graduate in a K-12 general education endorsement area demonstrates proficiency in understanding the role of general education teachers on the individualized education program (IEP) team. Recently, King took the time to speak with the PW Perspective about the importance of getting the bill passed and other goals that she has her sights set upon as she campaigns to win the seat going forward.

“Education is something that is deeply personal to me,” said King, who was among the first in her family to go to college at Norfolk State University. “Growing up, we didn’t think that it possible for us to have access to higher education. It changed the trajectory of my life, which is why I’m so passionate about it.”

She discussed what life has been like since being elected to office after former Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy resigned from the seat in order to focus on her gubernatorial campaign. “I’ve worked in advocacy as a mother but it’s different when you are a delegate. I learned a lot about special education after the JLARC (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission) review. The JLARC review found that the determination and eligibility criteria was different from county to county for special education students, especially for Black students.

“What this bill does it require the Department of Education to teach General Education students about their role in the IEP process. That is something I’m proud of. When I go to IEP meetings they can be intimidating. This will help teachers know how they can help with the process.”

As she has announced her intentions for re-election, there has much support, especially from Prince William County School Board members. “Lillie Jessie (Occoquan District) endorsed my campaign as well as Justin Wilk (Potomac) as has (Vice Chairwoman) Loree Williams; they know that prior to this political life, I was always advocating for special needs. As a parent we have a saying: ‘We get tired but we don’t quit’. It’s difficult for get bills passed for special education so it was great to see this get passed so quickly.”

One of King’s greatest successes in getting this bill passed was the bi-partisan support she received. “I went to the session with one goal in mind: represent the interests of the community. It’s not about having a sound bite. I had so many parents of children with special needs talk to me about their struggles. I took those personal experiences to the floor of the general assembly.

“Bringing people together for a common goal is challenging, especially when it comes to dealing with equity. I would not compromise on taking the word equity out of the bill. My core goal was to remain steadfast, and it remained in there.”

She discussed what the experience was like being a delegate, and gave credit to the ones who paved the way for her, such as her mentors Senator Yvonne Miller and Louise Lucas, respectively. “It was surreal to walk onto the floor of a building that wasn’t built for me. But we’re here, and we aren’t going anywhere.”

“I talked about the importance of supporting Black women, not just when times are good but supporting us when things are hard and we are not treated fairly. I was able to be sworn in person and that was an overwhelming experience because I watched so many before me do the same thing and I wanted to stand there for that brief moment.”

During her time as Delegate, she has learned many lessons along the way. “I’ve learned that we are stronger together when we’re working towards a common goal. This pandemic has taught us that we have to have bold progressive ideas.”

“One thing that I want to fix in my next term is the long list of children waiting for waivers. We can do it. If Virginia can abolish the death penalty and be on the path to legalize marijuana, we can do other bold progressive things that impact peoples lives. I’m proud of the G3 program (of which she was a patron). I’ve learned that progress can be scary but we have to move anyway.”

Her vision for education going forward involves compensating teachers even more than what has been proposed so far. “Teachers will have a 5% raise due to some very hard work we’ve done in the house; but it’s a floor not a ceiling.

“As teachers return to school, we have to ensure that they are safe. We are not out of the woods yet, so we’ve had a bill focused on returning to in person learning next session, but there was a lot of rhetoric to provide a bill to give teachers the option to return virtually. Our teachers have sacrificed too much.”

While teachers will be receiving financial support, another challenge is getting support for students as well. “We need to fund program students recoup the learning loss. The NY Times talked about some of the students who’ve done better during the pandemic. We need to determine what actually works. There were tremendous challenges that need to be addressed.”

King discussed an issue that has not been addresses as often is the unfair treatment that Black and brown students receive when it comes to disciplinary actions. “I was reading that report and already talked about potential implementation. One thing that stood out was the discipline issue. I will look into ways to turn those recommendations into action,” said King.

“We need to codify these changes and get them into the code of VA’s schools. We have to get the data. A lot of school systems are skating by because they don’t have to supply the data. How you discipline is relative of your system.”

“There’s no reason why we can’t include SRO engagement and the demographic of the students. We will be starting to collect data from traffic stops in July, I think that is an important start. Our Black and brown students with disabilities are impacted by these discrepancies.”

Not one to rest on her laurels, Delegate King is looking to advance things even further for special education students. “One of the first things I want to do is create a special education caucus. This would be where all of the legislators can come to coordinate and talk through the issues we are seeing, because this has gone on for far too long.”

She believes that one of keys to making this possible is the implementation of universal Pre-K. “Early intervention is the key in getting students in front of the right people to diagnose, because there is a huge disparity. Kids who go to pre-school can go, those who cannot might be with a sitter who cannot determine it. Some of the determination processes are difficult in our area. This is something we’ve reached out to health officials about.”

“We are almost in a desert for pediatric mental health specialties. We don’t have enough practitioners to get students what they need within our 2^nd district. They have to travel to DC or Richmond. My family had to travel to James Madison University (in Harrisonburg). We were fortunate but not every family has that option. We have a lot of children with sickle cell anemia or pediatric cancers who have to drive 45 minutes to 1 hour to get treatment.”

She offers a solution as to how that can get done. “We must start the conversation and so far I’m getting a great response from community partners. Also, we have to get the funding. Virginia has a budget that weathered the pandemic pretty well, and we need to look at our funds as well as our reserves in order to address the systemic problems in our community.”

“It will address the school to prison pipeline and the wellness of our people.”

Addressing the issues of education is what she has done successfully to this point, and she looks to continue this path as she seeks re-election.