THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040047
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: Jessica Major
LENGTH: 36 lines
I WAS LOOKING in The Virginian-Pilot for an article for my current event when I happened to see this article about the $24.9 million extension to the Norfolk jail.
The Norfolk City Council approved this money. With the $24.9 million, new beds were put in so that prisoners don't have to sleep on the floor, a new gym with skylights was built so that the prisoners could have a place to play, and the walls were painted cream and trimmed in blue so the place would look nice.
This new jail is ``computerized, high tech, and state of the art.''
Now that is all right except for the fact that right under this article was an article saying the same council needed $50 million for the schools in Norfolk. Many schools have roofs that leak, they need electrical wiring to handle computers and other ``high tech'' equipment, and other maintenance problems. Also Granby High School still needs money to repair their ``old and dilapidated'' gym.
This does not sound fair to me.
This made me start to believe that our councilmen don't think too much of students or the educational system. Granby can't get a gym, but the prisoners can! Schools are not ready for ``high tech'' but the jail is!
Homeless people don't have places to sleep, but the prisoners do!
The jail does not really sound like jail, it sounds like a spa or a camp. Maybe that is why some people do stupid stuff to get there. If the money was used to educate the students and keep the schools up to date, then maybe they wouldn't have to expand the jail.
Something is really wrong with this picture. I can't wait to vote. MEMO: Jessica Major is a seventh-grader at Northside Middle School in
Norfolk. by CNB