THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604130145
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion: Guest Column
SOURCE: BY ULYSSES V. SPIVA
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
City Manager Jim Spore was quoted in the Virginian-Pilot (April 3) as having said, ``I cannot propose cutting city departments or short change city employees to make up for the mistakes and behavior of the outgoing school board and the administration.''
Upon reading this statement, I was reminded of the words of the last Sen. Sam Ervin, who chaired the Watergate Committee in the early '70s. He said, ``a politician ought to tell the truth every now and then, just because it is the right thing to do.'' Mr. Spore would better serve our city if he would follow Sen. Ervin's sage advice. Taking cheap pop-shots at the former school board and its administrative staff will not serve any useful purpose.
Almost every year since Mr. Spore assumed the role as Virginia Beach city manager, he has recommended to the City Council (and received their approval) very damaging cuts in the proposed school board budget, just as he is doing now for the 1996-97 fiscal year. In my judgment, he and key members of his city finance staff use funds that should be used for the education of our children for other city projects and services. He uses what is known as mushroom management - that is, keeping everyone in the dark and feeding them with ``manure'' such as he espoused in that newspaper article April 3.
In the same article, Mr. Spore said his budget proposal is enough to fund a strong school system. He further said that his staff had found a way to cut about $6 million from the proposed school budget by reducing proposed raises for teachers from 5 percent to 3 percent. The public should be informed that he is talking about the step increases that are already in the current budget for salaries, not a raise as such. In other words, those teachers who are currently paid a certain salary for ``x'' years of experience, should be paid in 1996-97 school year for ``x + 1'' years of experience as promised in their original contracts. The additional 2 percent which the Board wishes to pay teachers is a cost of living allowance (COLA). Mr. Spore would again deny this COLA to school employees as was done last year, putting the Virginia Beach salary scale further behind other school divisions in Hampton Roads. Virginia Beach is currently near the bottom of the list of school divisions in this area on average teacher pay.
While Jim Spore tells the public that his goal is to create a better product out of the school system, his tactics have forced the school division into running hundreds of oversize classes, even in such important subject areas as math skills and English grammar. No one who cares and understands how young people learn would force a school division into such dire and critical circumstances that are doing great harm to hundreds of students. Given Mr. Spore's attitude toward the teachers and other school employees, I have serious doubts about his ability to recognize a ``strong'' school system.
Mr. Spore continually tries to force the School Board to hold teachers' raises to only the 3 percent step increase or less, but he has never rejected any of those very hefty raises which the City Council has bestowed upon him periodically. He is recommending from 6 to 26 percent salary raises for hundreds of his city staff members.
If Mr. Spore's 1996-97 budget recommendations to the City Council are approved, he will be able to increase his city staff by at least 111 new employees, while the school division is expecting an enrollment increase of at least 700 new students. Additionally, no one has an accurate count of how many new students will be added to the school division's roster due to the increasing Oceana personnel and their families moving to Virginia Beach.
Mr. Spore has recommended an $898 million operating budget. This is almost $50 million higher than last year. He proposes to give the school division about $22 million and to add the remaining $28 million or more to the city's budget. It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which agency will get the most from any tax increase. MEMO: Ulysses V. Spiva resigned from the School Board in March. He served on
the board from 1986 to 1991 and from 1994 until this year.
by CNB