Overheard: clucks and yucks

People shouldn't talk so loudly at restaurants, especially if they intend it to be a private conversation. But, in their enthusiasm, a couple of Staunton area Republicans, err... libertarians, err... wingnuts did just that, disturbing the conversation at our table, in more ways than one.

The initial focus of their conversation was finding candidates to run for the Staunton School Board. Candidates who would promote choice, if not school choice, then teacher choice (every mom could tell the school which classroom to assign her child to). There was considerable teacher-bashing claiming most teachers just "see it as a job" and "discourage parents from being involved." While under Virginia law parties cannot nominate for school board, they can support candidates and often encourage and nurture them as part of building a farm team to run for other local and state offices. With Staunton's electoral trends running against them, the city GOP desperately needs to rebuild that farm team.

Their conversation drifted to Delegate Chris Saxman and Delegate Steve Landes (sorry Emmett, guess they don't consider you to be one of them) and wondering if either was on an education committee in the General Assembly. Now, if these two were really GOP activists (one implied he was on the Staunton committee), you'd think they'd be better informed... Landes has long been a member and currently chairs the House Education Committee. At any rate, they didn't have much confidence that the General Assembly would do the kind of things these two wanted, one saying, "all they do is throw money at it." Hum, over the next few weeks local school boards will likely find some of that thrown money was written on bad checks.

Shifting from the topic of education they found common ground in bashing Democrats saying all the nation's new majority party wanted was to make everyone equal and to do that would take away liberty. This led to one declaring that government had no place in any kind of "charity" work.

Other interesting and disturbing? points they made:

• Joe McCarthy didn't find all the reds in Hollywood - the place has long been infested with them. Find out all about it in the neocon book, Red Star Over Hollywood. Not sure what prompted this topic except maybe Sunday's Oscars had their bile churning.
• They ought to get new "Win the War!" yard signs that say "Win the War, DAMMIT!" Yes, he spelled it for everyone in the restaurant.
• Churchville area residents Alex Avery and Dennis Avery are great role models. Google 'em and judge for yourself.

As lunch wrapped up they promised each other to stay in touch and the older gentleman said he'd let the other know when the Staunton Republican Committee would be meeting. The conversation lingered a moment more - gotta get the right candidates to get "education under control." As they pulled out of the lot, I noticed one of their SUVs was still plastered with multiple McCain/Palin stickers. Living in the past?

School House Rock

According to Education Week's Annual Quality Report, Virginia schools rank 4th in the nation with a grade of "B." Virginia is up from 5th place last year and trails only Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York. According to the report, Virginia ranks high in standards, accountability, and students' chances of success and was above the national average in all areas except funding equity where the Commonwealth got a "C+."

Funding disparity has long been an issue facing the General Assembly and is raised year after year by school boards and the Virginia Education Association. While the Virginia Constitution calls for the same quality education for each child, per pupil spending in wealthy areas like NOVA far outpaces that in rural communities such as those found in the Shenandoah Valley.

The Education Week report does highlight one area of concern for Virginia and many other states - a growing shortage of English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers. While this shortage hits some regions harder than others, the need is apparent in most school divisions. Harrisonburg schools, for example, have nearly two dozen languages spoken by students. Currently, Virginia has one ESL teacher for every 49 English language learners. Demand for ESL teachers is expected to increase by over 60% during the next five years.

Education Week's report is worth crowing about! It is good news for Virginia students, parents, and educators and signals there is no need for vouchers or tax credits for private schools. Especially in times of budget cuts, the state's commitment must be 100% for public education. Public dollars for public schools which meet the standards of public accountability.

Counting Corn

Lawmakers in Richmond are signaling significant cuts to public education, Medicaid, and other services in efforts to off-set a $2.5 billion shortfall in the state's $77 billion two-year budget. Governor Kaine and some lawmakers want to spare public education, or hold cuts to a minimum, but others like Lacey Putney (I-Bedford) said 50% of the budget cannot be exempted.

School Boards and superintendents will be watching closely as the Governor and General Assembly look at specific numbers and proposals in December. With 75% to 80% of a typical school division budget committed to personnel costs, finding big savings during the current budget year will demand tough decisions. 

In times of a tight budget, one does wonder why the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee traveled to the Hotel Roanoke for its annual policy retreat. Don't they have meeting rooms in the newly renovated State Capitol? Would meeting there have saved taxpayers a little money? In times like these, every corn kernel counts.

Grist shortage

Virginia's newspapers are filled with stories about too little grist in the mills of government. Tight times for families and tight times for state and local government, too. I thought some stimulus might prod us out of the Bush recession... depression? I heard the comedian Rush Limbaugh blaming it on Obama... Limbaugh is right in time for the holidays, a big dumb turkey.

Back to the main point. I guess only the feds can write the checks that might stimulate the economy enough to hopefully at least get it in a holding pattern rather than the downward spiral we've been witnessing this fall. 

Virginia government is tightening its belt to reduce what looks to be about $2.5 billion in red ink. The cuts are trickling down to local governments and showing up in hiring freezes and cuts in services. Some examples:

• School divisions in the Valley are already cutting back on such things as field trips and instructional supplies. With about 80% of school spending going toward personnel, finding deeper cuts are tough during a school year. Short term, i.e inadequate, fixes could be reducing sports travel, use of facilities after hours, energy savings, etc. If the downturn continues into the spring when the 09-10 school budgets are being crafted, with schools facing 10% or greater cuts from the state, expect no raises for staff, more health insurance cost passed on to the employee, and growing class sizes. Local governments will provide little or no relief and some could cut local funding to boot!
• Local governments will face shortfalls. Across the state, Virginia Beach is struggling to close a $22 million gap. Other than public safety, the city is putting everything on the chopping block. Closer to home, it was reported on TV that Waynesboro has an across-the-board hiring freeze that does impact the police department. The chief noted that, like most small cities, there are already vacancies and it takes months to get a new hire trained on on the streets.
• Speaking of public safety, the Virginia State Police Academy has been postponed twice due to lack of money. The General Assembly has authorized over 2000 troopers but has failed to fund 108 of those positions. And that may get worse. The State Police say they need about 600 new troopers for "new crimes" like identity theft, terrorism, and a variety of internet crimes. To meet that need they are diverting officers from traditional duties on highways. Response times have already gone up. Did the speed limit on I-81 just go up?
• VDOT and many localities say they are "ready" for winter weather, but don't expect the service you've become accustomed to. The cost of chemicals has gone up sharply. Plus, a lot of plowing is done by staff working long hours, i.e. overtime pay. VDOT and cities will cut back on both! Smaller snowfalls will be left to melt on their own. Subdivisions won't get plowed. The biggest changes may be in NOVA which apparently has been getting "enhanced service" that will sharply reduced. The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a cold, snowy winter in Virginia!
• Our state colleges and universities are looking at sharp cuts that may require internal restructuring down to eliminating many basic office expenses and travel. At Virginia Tech they are anticipating cutting programs and people. They've already planned for budget cuts of 3% to 5% but fear those numbers are just a start. It will be the same at JMU, UVA, and others.

So, across the board it looks like the grinch has stolen the extra grist we thought we put up for the winter. There are rays of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy forecast: Governor Kaine just announced Virginia will have $90 million more (total of $128 million) to help low income families heat their homes. The deadline for applying for assistance has been extended to Dec. 1.

The other ray of hope - 01.20.09.