The Latest from VEA

For Immediate Release
November 4, 2026

Contact:

Reilly Bradshaw, Virginia Education Association  804.887.9931 | rbradshaw@veanea.org

VEA Celebrates Election Victories for Public Schools, Students, and Educators

Virginia Education Association (VEA) President Carol Bauer released the following statement on last night’s election results:

“Today, we celebrate victories that create new opportunities for Virginia’s public schools, the students who depend on them, and the educators who keep them running.

“We congratulate Virginia’s newly-elected and returning members of Congress, including Bobby Scott, Shannon Taylor, Elaine Luria, Jennifer McClellan, Eugene Vindman, Suhas Subramanyam, James Walkinshaw, and Don Beyer Jr., who were recommended by the VEA Fund and endorsed by the NEA Fund.

“VEA looks forward to working with every member of Virginia’s congressional delegation, regardless of party, to strengthen public education. We call on the new Congress to use the budget process to repeal the federal private school voucher program and prioritize public schools, which welcome and serve all students.

“We also congratulate Sonia Vasquez Luna, endorsed by the VEA Fund, on her election to the House of Delegates. We look forward to working with her and her colleagues to secure fair compensation, strengthen school funding, and expand collective bargaining rights.

“School board elections create important opportunities to strengthen public education, and voters in at least four localities elected a majority of candidates that support collective bargaining, which improves both educators’ working conditions and students’ learning conditions. We congratulate successful candidates supported by local education associations and their PACs, and we stand ready to work with all elected school board members.

“Virginia Beach had an especially strong night for public education and worker rights. Endorsed incumbents Betty Spencer and Alveta Green won re-election, and Antoinette Kahan and Natalie Bray flipped seats on the board. These victories create an important opportunity to advance collective bargaining and improve educators’ working conditions and students’ learning conditions.

“We congratulate Karima Lockwood, Karen Jenkins, and Steven Cheeks, all endorsed by the local association PAC, on their election to the Suffolk School Board. We look forward to working with the board to strengthen public schools and ensure educators have a meaningful voice in school decisions.

“In Chesapeake, four endorsed candidates won election: Amanda Quillin, Janika ‘Dr. Jay’ Phillips, Jeremiah Harrell, and Andrea Bolden. We are especially proud to congratulate VEA members Andrea Bolden in Chesapeake and Murina Dove in Manassas City, who will bring educators’ firsthand experience to their school boards.

“We would also like to recognize the Education Association of Norfolk’s PAC, whose work went well beyond endorsements to actively supporting candidates and organizing for school construction funding. Those efforts helped elect three endorsed school board candidates and demonstrate the difference educators can make in local elections.

“In a year where affordability was top of mind for voters, a majority in 15 localities still supported the additional 1% sales tax for school construction and major renovations. By approving these measures, voters are choosing to invest in safer, healthier, more modern places to learn and work.

“The opportunity to invest in our schools doesn’t end with this election. We encourage localities that did not put a referendum on the ballot this year to pursue that opportunity in 2027, and those where it did not pass to revisit the question in future years.

“Finally, we celebrate voters’ approval of constitutional amendments protecting reproductive freedom, securing marriage equality, and automatically restoring voting rights upon release from incarceration for a felony conviction. VEA supported the legislation placing all three amendments before voters and supported their passage. These protections matter to our members and school communities: women deserve control over their reproductive health, LGBTQ+ school staff and families deserve equal treatment, and our democracy grows stronger when more people can participate.

“Last night’s victories give us opportunities we must convert into progress. VEA members are ready to work with everyone elected to deliver the schools, working conditions, and opportunities Virginia’s students and educators deserve.”

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Members of the Virginia Education Association, the largest union in the Commonwealth, believe every child deserves a great public school.