-- Delegate Peace Asked to Serve as Advisor -- Central Virginia – Governor-elect Bob McDonnell recently appointed Delegate Christopher K. Peace (R-Mechanicsville) to serve as a part of his transition team. Peace will serve as a transition advisor on the education work group. The work group is tasked with making policy and legislative recommendations to the Governor-elect related to K-12 education.
"I am honored to be entrusted by the Governor-elect with this responsibility and opportunity to work to ensure that Virginia continues to move our educational system forward, work to reform charter school laws, and embrace the use of new technologies in the classroom," Peace said. "I look forward to working with my colleagues, transition staff and the Governor-elect to develop sound education policies that will increase positive educational outcomes for students and families across the Commonwealth."
Through previous legislation, Peace has been focused on the educational needs of the state. He successfully championed legislation to amend the definition of textbook to include digital textbooks. Seperately, he introduced legislation to clarify the manner in which school boards may establish single-gender classes or schools in a school division to improve the learning environment for boys and girls. Faced with a gender gap in test scores, Acquinton Elementary School in King William, Mechanicsville Elementary in Hanover, Laburnum Elementary in Henrico, and Woodbridge Middle School have formed single gender classrooms testing the growing school of thought that boys and girls are hard wired to learn differently.
Additionally Peace successfully introduced legislation to give at-risk students who are not succeeding in the traditional school setting another educational choice. HB 1945, passed during the 2009 session, allows a student to be administratively assigned, by the division superintendent, to a regional alternative education program if there is space available. It further allows parents or caregivers the option of requesting a regional alternative education placement for their child. Virginia's regional alternative education programs were established in 1993 to provide options for students with disciplinary problems who have been expelled, suspended on a long-term basis or are returning from a juvenile correctional center. Peace's legislation also enables students, who have not been suspended and expelled, access to these very effective programs.
Delegate Christopher K. Peace was elected to his third term representing the 97th District of the Virginia House of Delegates. The District includes parts of Hanover, Caroline, King William, King and Queen, Henrico, Spotsylvania Counties and all of New Kent County