THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150015
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: OPINION
SOURCE: KERRY DOUGHERTY
LENGTH: 85 lines
Just how selfish are people without children?
That's what I've been asking myself ever since Virginia Beach budget director Dean Block pointedly told City Council last week that 70 percent of households in the city have no school-aged children. He offered this to partially explain why the city can't afford to spend more money on schools without raising taxes.
``We have to balance the needs of taxpayers,'' he told Council, arguing for a new funding formula. Under the proposal, if the school system needs more than 53.13 percent of the city's selected revenue streams, it will have to ask for a local tax hike.
Assuming this 70 percent figure is correct, it tells only part of the story. In the first place, many of these households without school-age children had children at one time, but now they're out of school. Others have kids, but they're too young for school. Still others, presumably, will someday house schoolchildren who are not yet born.
What bothers me is the presumption that only people with kids in school at this very moment want to fully fund education. I don't happen to believe that, and I think that those who subscribe to this philosophy sell short Virginia Beachites.
This debate is all part of the annual fisticuffs between Council and School Board over funding. It's always ugly. More so this year. And pitting those with children against those without is tragic.
School Superintendent Timothy Jenney has said he'd like fiscal autonomy for the elected school board - i.e. taxing authority.
I wish he could have it too.
If he did, when voters went to the polls to elect school board and city council members they would, in effect, be making choices.
It would be fun to see some of these spending choices. For instance, what would voters say given the choice of spending millions of dollars on a seawall at the North End - or on good schools citywide?
How about whether they'd rather spend their hard-earned tax dollars on a championship golf course - primarily for the amusement of rich white guys - or pay for good schools citywide?
And how about choices between all those other goodies Council is so enamored of - an amphitheater, soccer stadium, equestrian center, enlarged Pavilion, Boardwalk beautification, sand for Sandbridge - or good schools citywide.
Unlike city officialdom, I have faith in the people of Virginia Beach. I think they'd shock City Council and pick schools any day.
There's been a lot of talk on City Council lately about retirement communities. Members gets positively misty-eyed when they think about ways to lure retirees with their wads of disposable income to the city. And the best part, Council members are quick to say, is that retirees make minimal demands on city services. In particular, they don't require more schools.
Does it follow that they also don't want their tax dollars spent on schools?
I don't share the cynicism of city officials that retirees are selfish old codgers who don't care about the younger generation. Many of them are grandparents. Many actually like children. Some realize that civilized society requires that we care about each other and educate the young.
Other oldsters may want a superior school system out of fear: They know that if you don't educate young people, they may come climbing through your windows late at night to steal your appliances. No one likes that.
It's a disgrace that Virginia Beach - the second-largest school district in the commonwealth - ranks 71st (out of 133) in local per-pupil spending, according to a new report by Richard T. LaPointe, Virginia's Superintendent of Public Instruction. The report says the Beach spends $1,904 on each child in the school system. Neighboring Chesapeake spends $2,204 and relatively impoverished Norfolk is able to find $1,967. Affluent Fairfax County, with the finest school system in Virginia, spends a whopping $5,312 on each student each year - and it pays off.
We need to stop looking at our schools as a citywide drain on the economy. Good schools are an economic development engine that will do more to lure business to Virginia Beach than all the seawalls, stadiums and golf courses the city can build. Good schools, combined with the Lake Gaston pipeline and the boom times expected to come with it, would be a dynamic combination tempting corporations to relocate to Virginia Beach.
Virginia Secretary of Education Beverly Sgro was in town earlier this week. In a brief speech she underlined the importance of good schools. When corporations are considering a move to Virginia, she said, the first thing they ask about is the local crime rate. The second is how good are the schools.
City officials were at that meeting. Were they listening? MEMO: Ms. Dougherty is an editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot.