V.I. Board of Education Hears Warning of Alleged Federal Push Toward Privatization

The Virgin Islands Board of Education on Monday heard from Dr. Phelton Moss of the National School Boards Association regarding recent federal education policy shifts and their potential implications for the territory.

“The administration is unloving to public education, writ large,” said Dr. Phelton Moss, managing director of Government Relations at the National School Boards Association, as he addressed board members about recent changes in federal education policy. He said the administration is “looking for every opportunity to privatize public education.”

Moss was invited to speak to members of the local education community about how current federal education policy could affect Virgin Islands administrators, educators and students. While he noted that many proposed cuts from the last appropriation cycle “did not make it through,” he cautioned that the underlying sentiment remains active on Capitol Hill.

“Budgets should remain on your brain…I can’t promise you we won’t have cuts,” he told those in attendance.

In anticipation of potential reductions in education funding, Moss said the NSBA is “trying to figure out how to bring fiscal discipline to our systems.” He framed the moment as one requiring heightened vigilance from education leaders. “When the federal government is working twice as hard to dismantle this system…you’ve got to work twice as hard to keep it intact,” he said, describing what he characterized as a “full court press...to privatize public education.”