THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SERIES: A Virginia Reform Agenda
One of a series
LENGTH: 75 lines
Historically, Virginia state government has considered itself an equal partner in paying for the day-to-day operation of public schools. But when it comes to building classrooms, local governments - through real-estate and personal-property taxes - pick up the tab.
Now, with estimates on needed maintenance and capital improvements in Virginia schools topping $6 billion, it's time for the equation to change.
The Virginia General Assembly should acknowledge the state's interest in adequate classrooms by supplying cash to help pay the debt service on school construction projects.
Such general-fund appropriations have not been the Virginia way, but there's precedent for an ``Educational Infrastructure Fund'' to make construction-related grants to local school divisions. A half-century ago, as Gov. John S. Battle took office in 1950, thousands of post-World War II baby boomers were getting ready to march off to Virginia classrooms rendered inadequate by years of pay-as-you-go neglect.
Battle pushed a $45 million appropriation for construction and renovation through the 1950 Assembly. To protect poorer school divisions, he insisted that local funding matches not be required. By the time he left office in 1954, the state Board of Education had approved school- construction grants totaling about $132 million. Local school divisions had invested an additional $120 million.
The comparable expenditure in 1995 dollars would be about $1.4 billion.
Those familiar with school-construction needs believe the current crisis is equally severe. From one end of the state to the other, school officials report that critical needs cannot be met with local resources.
In some localities, according to a recent Department of Education report, property taxes could double and there still would not be enough revenue to finance a modern school infrastructure.
Obsolescence is one culprit. Sixty-three percent of Virginia schools are 25 years or older. Many schools built in the 1960s were designed with a 30-year shelf life. In Richmond, for instance, where buildings average 60 years of age, officials report $340 million in construction needs. Norfolk officials cite more than $100 million in needed projects.
In other localities, the problem is a rapidly growing school population. Chesterfield County voters have just approved a record $174.8 million bond issue for school construction, but even with that investment it's projected that in six years trailer-classrooms will have been whittled only from 248 to 150.
In many divisions, classrooms wired in a precomputer age cannot accommodate the push for technological innovation. Too often, there simply aren't adequate phone or electric outlets.
Presently, the commonwealth's role in financing public-school construction and renovation is essentially limited to helping school divisions reduce the cost of debt service through low-interest loans or pooled bond issues. There are two primary sources of assistance: the Literary Fund and the Virginia Public School Authority.
Also in recent years, the state has provided a nominal, per-pupil sum for school maintenance. All that is useful and should be continued, but it is inadequate.
The Virginia economy is expanding. Meanwhile, the state's tax burden - relative to wealth - is among the lowest in the nation. An increase in the state sales tax or in corporate or personal income tax to address pressing education needs merits consideration.
Whether the funds come from new tax revenues or existing ones, it is time for the state to acknowledge its stake in creating an environment where students can maximize their learning potential.
Bill Bosher, a conservative former head of the state Department of Education, is now Chesterfield County superintendent. He argues that the state should ``make a philosophical shift to participate (in school construction) beyond mechanisms to provide credit.''
Virginia needs to do more than help local schools buy down the cost of construction money. It needs to help them pay school-construction debt.