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By Michelle Phipps-Evans
As a math teacher in Virginia’s Prince William County school system, Atif Qarni sees a lot of things that could be improved about the education system. Qarni recently announced his candidacy to represent the 13th District in the Virginia House of Delegates which is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. The General Assembly is the state’s legislative body in Richmond, Va.
“I see signs that classroom sizes are out of control,” said Qarni, 35, who has taught in the school system for five years. “The average class size used to be 26 kids, now it’s 36.” He said that education funds are mismanaged and are not keeping up with population growth. Much of this mismanagement, he puts squarely at the feet of longtime incumbent Del. Bob Marshall (R), the representative he’s trying to unseat on election day, Nov. 5, 2013. The 13th District covers western Prince William County and Manassas Park.
“His voting record is horrendous when it comes to the education budget,” said Qarni, a Democrat. “He voted for a $620-million cut from the state-wide education budget that led to excessive layoffs.” Qarni clarified that his goal isn’t only about getting more funding but to ensure that every teacher is able to focus on teaching, and isn’t worried about other issues.
Prior to being a teacher, Qarni served in the Marine Corps Reserve. In 2003, he was deployed to Iraq during “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” the extended military conflict in Iraq that resulted in the overthrow of the regime of the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.
“It was a life-learning experience for me,” said Qarni who joined the Marines immediately after graduating high school, and was honorably discharged after eight years. “It allowed me time to reflect, and that’s when I decided to go into teaching.”
He recounted how, during his time in Iraq immediately after Hussein was overthrown, he had to work with doctors and teachers and develop relationships with the local community and university to restart the college programs, to assist with bringing normalcy to the region.
“Ninety percent of what the Marine Corp does is to help develop the region,” Qarni explained. This, he said, is contrary to the popular belief that Marines are merely fighters and responsible for bloodshed. “We encouraged other Americans to purchase stuff from the Iraqi people to help with the local economy, even though we got care packages from back home.”
He said the entire experience was a “humbling one for him.”
The American with roots in Pakistan, who grew up in the Baltimore, Md., area has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and a master’s in history from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., plus a master’s in education administration from Strayer University.
Nine years ago, Qarni, his wife Fatima, and their two sons moved to Manassas, Va., where he has coached football, soccer and track and field, and has taught GED classes at the Manassas Park High School.
Besides education, Qarni said the other complaint he’s hearing firsthand from constituents is about the traffic and gridlock in the area. In fact, it was his daily complaining about the traffic that led his wife to encourage him to do something about it.
“She had enough of my complaining,” said Qarni who added that transportation targets keep getting stalled, mismanaged and delayed. “I want to take my record of service as a Marine and my experience as a teacher to be a strong representative for the district that actually focuses on the issues that affect us every day like creating good paying jobs, reducing traffic and congestion and making sure our schools are the best they can be.” Other issues he’s focused on include protecting women’s health and reducing gun violence.
Qarni’s position on these key issues have led Virginia resident Barbara Kreykenbohm to support him.
“It’s all about what happens in Richmond,” Kreykenbohm said. “Good things can happen in the House of Delegates but really scary things can happen there also. Some people in Richmond want to spend less money on education. Some people want to control women’s bodies. With Atif as my delegate I know I will have a representative fighting against cuts in education funding and fighting against state control of my body.”
Qarni also benefits from endorsements from Terry McAuliffe, Virginia’s Democratic nominee for governor; Sen. Mark Herring, the Democratic nominee for attorney general; Naral Pro-Choice America; Virginia Education Association and the Service Employees International Union among others.
At the opening of Qarni’s campaign office in Manassas in early August, he was joined by more than 60 friends, family and supporters, including Herring, and the Democratic House Caucus Chair Del. Mark Sickles. Herring spoke in favor of the candidate.
“The 13th District deserves a delegate who will focus on solving problems, not on an extreme social agenda,” Herring said. “That’s why I am proud to support Atif Qarni. I know Atif will put his energy and his experience to work to do what’s right for the people of Prince William County and the people of Virginia.”
