To the Editor:
I see that several recent letters to the Connection have expressed an interest in arts education. I would like to suggest to them that, rather than supporting a Republican candidate for House of Delegates in the special election next week, they consider the qualifications of Kathleen Murphy, the candidate who actually has a track record of supporting the arts.
As a longtime member and patron of the McLean Project for the Arts, Kathleen knows the importance of community support for the arts. She is on the Board of Directors of the McLean Community Foundation that has provided funds for Langley High School's Saxon Stage, the Children’s Art Walk at McLean Artfest, the Traveling Players Ensemble, a theater group that performs at local schools, and the McLean Orchestra.
As a former writer and producer for Nickelodeon Television, Kathleen is familiar with the important issues surrounding electronic entertainment for children.
In contrast to Murphy's commitment to the arts are the Republicans who have controlled the Virginia House of Delegates for the past twenty years, chronically underfunding public education and creating a situation where arts education is often reduced to an "extracurricular" activity in our schools. Because the Commonwealth of Virginia is failing in its constitutional duty to fund our schools, local property owners bear an unfair burden for providing our children with a well rounded curriculum that gives arts education the place it deserves as a full academic discipline.
For voters who care about art education, the choice on Jan. 6 is between Kathleen Murphy, a proven supporter of arts education, and a candidate who will join a Republican caucus in Richmond that has effectively starved art education in our schools for over two decades.
J. Jay Volkert
Tysons Corner