The Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors has worked for more than 10 years to destroy public education by defunding it. Both political parties see it. The Board can fix it in one easy move.
Pay me now or pay me later. Anecdote: At the monthly NAACP meeting on May 2, one of the school board members was there giving a "state of the schools" update and it was mostly about the budget and the 50 teacher spots (and about half that many paras) that will go unfilled because the budget won't support all the teachers needed. A relative newcomer to the community (works in DC; moved to Spotsy for the lower cost of living and "good schools"--his words) said that he didn't know any of this and he's willing to fight for more money but that if he had known these things 2 years ago he wouldn't have moved here. Underfunded--read low quality--public education is a death knell for our community.
Nice to see it laid out. We need to support our children’s education. And treat teachers better. They are the backbone of our society and for too long have been taken for granted and disrespected.
Excellent reporting, Marty. The Fredericksburg Advance is such an asset.
Meanwhile . . . . Spotsylvania County must awaken from its lack-of-school-funding coma. With the current inability to fund staff positions? Hope there is a remedy for too late!
"Reflexively raising taxes every time a need for more money arises can quickly spiral out of control and do irreparable harm to those who can least afford to absorb an increase." You were referencing Fredericksburg, correct? The poor and financially struggling can no longer afford to live in the city.
Pay me now or pay me later. Anecdote: At the monthly NAACP meeting on May 2, one of the school board members was there giving a "state of the schools" update and it was mostly about the budget and the 50 teacher spots (and about half that many paras) that will go unfilled because the budget won't support all the teachers needed. A relative newcomer to the community (works in DC; moved to Spotsy for the lower cost of living and "good schools"--his words) said that he didn't know any of this and he's willing to fight for more money but that if he had known these things 2 years ago he wouldn't have moved here. Underfunded--read low quality--public education is a death knell for our community.
Nice to see it laid out. We need to support our children’s education. And treat teachers better. They are the backbone of our society and for too long have been taken for granted and disrespected.
Excellent reporting, Marty. The Fredericksburg Advance is such an asset.
Meanwhile . . . . Spotsylvania County must awaken from its lack-of-school-funding coma. With the current inability to fund staff positions? Hope there is a remedy for too late!
"Reflexively raising taxes every time a need for more money arises can quickly spiral out of control and do irreparable harm to those who can least afford to absorb an increase." You were referencing Fredericksburg, correct? The poor and financially struggling can no longer afford to live in the city.