THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 19, 1995 TAG: 9512190003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Although the Christmas rush is upon us, Chesapeake residents should pause long enough today to vote for School Board candidates.
This is Chesapeake's first chance to elect a School Board. Complaints about the schools have come hot and heavy. At last residents can put their votes where their mouths have been.
In recent years, the city has grown far faster than it has built schools. One logical reason the city has gone slow is in order to build schools where the new students are - not where they might be in a few years. Still, the go-slow approach has resulted in 8,000 of 35,000 students in portable classrooms. Some elementary schools have more than 1,000 students, far too many for children of that age. Many a classroom also has too many students for a single teacher to teach.
We encourage voters to choose candidates with knowledge of education and - nearly as important - of finance.
Additionally, School Board members will need a talent for persuasion, because even elected school boards in Virginia can only ask city councils for money to improve education. A School Board member who can persuade City Council to do more for schools will prove invaluable.
At least moderately better times are ahead for Chesapeake schools. Apparently the residential boom is slackening. Only 10 portable classrooms were added this year, compared with 40 in previous years. The school system has launched a $102 million building program that includes three middle schools and an elementary school, plus additions at three high schools, a middle school and an elementary school. That money, only a beginning, is to come from Virginia Public School Authority bonds. Council in February will consider a School Board-approved plan for an additional $173 million in capital improvements to carry the city through year 2000. That plan calls for seven new school buildings.
But far more is at stake than money. Where will schools be built? What educational standards, other than those mandated by the state, will be applied? What courses will be taught? By what methods? How will teachers be held accountable and rewarded for success? Will schools insist on one model for all classrooms or permit, and even encourage, alternatives?
Chesapeake is voting on the future of its youth, which is to say its own future. In the spirit of Christmas, residents should vote for the candidates who will do the most to help the children. by CNB