A gun, an unlicensed teacher, and no oversight: My life in a Virginia private school

As a student, I watched my Virginia private school unravel without accountability. That’s why I’m against expanding school vouchers that would funnel public money into private education.

From kindergarten through eighth grade, I was the poster child for private education. The Danville church my family attended built a small, off-property schoolhouse in the 1960s and hired two teachers who stayed there for 40 years.

The married couple ran a tight ship—the woman taught kindergarten through fourth grade in one classroom, and her husband taught fifth through eighth in the other. In a typical school year, there were usually 20 or 30 kids attending. Looking back, I value not only the education they provided, but also the safety they ensured. 

We started each morning off with hymnal singing, the Pledge of Allegiance to both the American and Christian flags, and a doctrine-based Bible lesson. Then, we went into the usual school subjects—reading, English, math, spelling, science, and social studies. They’d teach the handful of students in one grade a lesson, assign those kids independent work, and then move on to do the same for the next grade.

There were two recesses per day: One in the morning, and one after lunch. And they’d read classic stories to us during lunch, like Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague, and Make Way for Ducklings.

Time after time, our church school students who entered public high school reported back that their teachers were astounded with the impressive knowledge base they had. It was a real compliment to the couple’s great teaching. 

But as folk say, all good things must come to an end—and in 2004, the private school received a devastating blow when the two teachers retired. I was a couple days shy of 11 at the time.

I’m sharing this now because the topic of whether or not public funding should help pay for private school tuition through voucher-style programs has come up again among Virginia lawmakers. My school didn’t receive public money. There were no state guardrails, no academic oversight, no outside accountability. But what happened after our teachers retired is exactly why that distinction matters—and why I caution support for sending taxpayer dollars into private schools without strict standards.

In the late spring and summer after the retirement announcement, the church scrambled to find replacements. A former public school teacher and church member stepped in to take over the lower grades. Meanwhile, the upper grades—my class—were handed to a man from Iowa with a degree in architecture. He didn’t have a teaching license, only a certificate, yet he was installed as both head teacher and principal.

Problems started quickly. 

The head teacher rarely taught curriculum. Instead, he berated students, warning that our souls were damned for enjoying fiction, wearing certain clothing, or having pierced ears. He even brought his wife back to campus to teach art—despite a court order barring her after she physically assaulted a child on school grounds.  

Our “lessons” included watching a video revival series about the impending end of the world, a video series about the vivid persecution of Christians (and the end of the world), and hosting an evening health series for the community based on natural remedies. 

Other “lessons” were practical learning. He turned our beloved kickball field into a student-tended vegetable garden. We were dropped off in unfamiliar neighborhoods to knock on strangers’ doors and pass out religious tracts. We even served as doormen for the school building, welcoming any random person who came to the school, whether we recognized them or not. 

Some “lessons” were “project-based.” For one on how light travels faster than sound, our teacher asked if any students had a gun at home they could bring to school the following day. One did, and the teacher instructed him to go outside, point it toward the window of watching students, and fire to prove that the “bang” came after the bullet. He’s right—I’ve never forgotten that light travels faster. 

As far as in-class learning, the best example I can think of is when I struggled with trigonometry in sixth grade. I took my math book up to his desk and asked him to teach the concept to me. He asked if I’d read the page explaining it. I had. He said to go back and read it again. 

A few years later, the teacher resigned after being threatened with termination. The school closed for good in 2010. 

Of course, that’s just my story of one private school. I have plenty of friends who send their kids to private school, and it’s a safe experience with a grounded education. But it’s also true that sometimes, private schools don’t undergo the same checks-and-balances that public schools do to receive state funding. 

That’s what Del. Dan Helmer—a Democrat serving Loudoun, Prince William County, Fauquier, Fairfax, Rappahannock counties, and Manassas and Manassas Park—sought to fix in Virginia’s General Assembly this year. 

His House Bill 359 would’ve established conditions for using public funds for private school tuition, including: 

• SOL tests for participating students
• Board of Education accountability ratings for schools
• Adherence to nondiscriminatory policies

In other words, the kind of guardrails my school never had. 

The bill didn’t make it to Crossover this session. Instead, it was continued—or set aside—until next year. 

Given my own experience from 2004 to 2007, I know firsthand what can happen when private schools don’t have standards they must meet— especially when no one is watching.

If Virginia is going to spend public money on private education, it should come with public accountability.

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