Builds Schools Now! Chimes in on Prez issue

Today, I had the privilege of taking a peek at a press release for the Richmond Council of PTAs as it was being edited and sent out. It's titled "Crisis in School Board Leadership." Their Build Schools Now! initiative has been trying to light a fire under Richmond's education system, particularly calling for the city's political leadership to come together with the business leadership and invest in new state-of-the-art schools that would demonstrate a new direction for education in Richmond. The text from the press release is pasted below, but first, here's my current take is the situation (not speaking for any group):

The blogs that have been beating the drums for George Braxton's removal as School Board prez are being a little shortsighted. They highlight a lot of problematic behavior that I believe need to be addressed. However, I don't think the buck stops with Braxton. Other members of Richmond's elected "leadership" have as much blame, if not more (in the case of Wilder), to assume for our school system's current state of disrepair and lack of direction. Personally, I really want to see progress at any cost, to establish some forward momentum. Because when my (yet unborn) kid is ready for school in five years, I want him to go to RPS. But, I don't believe that swapping figureheads does much to change the political distrust and habitual finger-pointing at City Hall (see misguided at-large "strong mayor" mistake). In the words of fed up Argentinians in 2002, "Que se vayan todos" (throw them all out). The only way to ensure change is to let the officials know that they are ALL wearing a badge of shame until progress is made. Nothing is granted without a demand and we need to tell the system WHAT we want, not WHO we want.

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Richmond City Council of P.T.A’s
Build schools Now
Contact Art Burton: 804-467-6408

Press Statement
Topic: Crisis in School Board Leadership

The main premise behind Build Schools Now is the fact that our City’s leadership has been unwilling to make a capital investment in its children, i.e. building schools that demonstrate the widespread desire for a 21st century education system in Richmond. This ongoing disappointment is a major indicator that our leadership is failing the children of this city.

In December, Build Schools Now members attended a City Council committee meeting where the school board audit was to be discussed. The auditor of the City of Richmond announced that he was short on staff and was not able to conduct the audit in a timely manner. Nonetheless, the City Council and the Wilder administration seemed to be at odds over the purpose and goal of the audit. The school system seemed to be simply using the audit as a way to “redirect” money identified as potential savings to other areas. In this case, the City Council would have zero input into the process on “redirecting” surplus education funds. City Administration and School Board administration seemed to be at odds over whether the School administration was to be “redirecting” or “capturing” savings. In general, there seems to be no agreed upon goal for the audit, no timeline for completion of the audit, nor any benchmarks to measure compliance by the School Board.

Also in December, we reported to the Health, Education, and Human Services committee of City Council that we could not support the building proposal sent forward by the school board of the city of Richmond because it did not address two pressing needs while prioritizing new construction that is not immediately necessary. The proposal did not address our concerns about Richmond’s lack of a first class high school, and it did not address concerns regarding a two school solution for the East End of Richmond. We also disagreed with the idea that an alternative school should be built prior to any other building taken on by the school system.

Moreover ADA information included in the package was dated and contained information about schools that were already closed or offline. The fact that the school board had not taken the time to update its information showed a lack of seriousness around the matter of both school construction and ADA compliance.

Build Schools Now has repeatedly attempted to address the Mayor’s demand that there should be school closings in the city. We have sought a meeting were Mayor Wilder could clarify his position and perhaps assist us in developing a reasonable plan for school building and school closings. However to this date, we have not been invited to meet with the Mayor on this matter. Furthermore, the current political climate does not suggest to us that the school administration will work to get to a “bottom line” from the Mayor on school closings, and we do not believe that the City Council has the political courage to demand that schools be closed. We believe that the Mayor’s unwillingness to collaborate with the School Board is at the heart of the current impasse.

Our children, our families, and our community are being held hostage by demands for school consolidation, perpetually delayed school construction, and the continued stalemate around the audit of the Richmond’s education system. On every turn we are being greeted by political infighting, distrust among those in leadership positions, and ongoing neglect and disregard for the wellbeing of our children and community. We continue to see a lack of vision for quality education in this city. The School Board has clearly decided that “misdirection” and infighting are more important matters than building schools and creating a “new direction”, while our mayor and City Council remains locked in a power struggle.

The Richmond City Council of P.T.A’S will continue to put forward its demand that the political leadership in this city (including the influential members of the business community) end the blame game, infighting and finger pointing, and get serious about the children of the city of Richmond by making a capital investment in them and Build Schools Now.

• We are asking that the School Board of the City of Richmond put forward a “real” plan that begins to address the building needs over all of its community to include ADA compliance.

• We are asking that the City Council of Richmond direct its auditor to complete the audit in a timely fashion and that goal, objectives, timelines be established to insure all parties have the same understanding of outcome measures.

• We ask the Mayor and administration to assist in the development of a realistic school consolidation plan that includes community input. His role should also include the cultivation of political will around the need to engage in and invest in such a plan.

While all leadership in this city states a love for the children of this city and a desire to provide a 21st Century education, move them “from good to great,” ensure that they have a “20/20 vision” and offer us a “new direction”; leadership’s actions to date do not match their words. To remedy this the Richmond City council of PTA’s can only say:
BUILD SCHOOLS NOW!!!!’

Contact Art Burton: 804-467-6408

Build Schools Now! Take Education OFF the Back Burner in RVA

Hey BLOGGERS! YOU ARE INVITED. In lieu of local MSM coverage of this grassroots mobiliation, your attention is sorely needed. COVER THIS CAMPAIGN KICKOFF aimed at breaking up the power-struggle in City Hall and demanding that Richmond's elected officials start prioritizing public education. Please read the following press release for specifics. Big things are on the horizon for the Build Schools Now! coalition and YOU ARE INVITED to spread the word and participate in this community mandate.

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News Release

BUILD SCHOOLS NOW!!!
CAMPAIGN KICKOFF - PRESS CONFERENCE
NOVEMBER 5, 2007 - CITY HALL - 5:15PM
Contact: Art Burton (804)467-6408

Richmond City Council of PTA outlined the BUILD SCHOOLS NOW initiative prior to the regularly scheduled School Board meeting today.

The BUILD SCHOOLS NOW initiative was born in response to the letter written by the business community calling for the elimination of the elected school board and is the people’s cry to leadership to end fighting and finger pointing and make a capital investment in public education.

The BUILD SCHOOLS NOW initiative is the creation of a coalition to begin a public movement on behalf of the children in Richmond City Public Schools that calls for the groundbreaking and development of new schools as the first phase towards enhancing the public school system. On November 5, 2007, at 5:15pm you are invited to come and meet the organizational and community leaders of this coalition. At this press conference we will share details of our plans to end political in-fighting and advance educational opportunities for our children and move this city towards a new vision for public education.

We are calling on the leadership of this city to make good on its promises. These promises began as early as 2001 with the Facility Study conducted by the RPS system, in addition to the City of the Future plan developed in 2006, by the Mayor and City Administration. To date all promises have gone unfulfilled. Phase One of BUILD SCHOOLS NOW provides for new and improved facilities beginning with the following:

A. New Fulton Elementary School - the 2001 Facility Study showed over 300 students attending elementary schools live in the Fulton areas, and if an elementary school were built in that community, many of these students would attend that community school.

B. New Huguenot High School - addresses the issues of the lack of high quality middle and high schools to reverse the negative trend of losing middle class families from public schools after elementary school.

C. New Summerhill and Broad Rock Elementary Schools - addresses the issue of out-dated school buildings and shifting population south of the river.
D. Richmond Technical Center - addresses the business community need to have high school graduates who are prepared to enter the workforce.

These locations were largely selected as a result of the Facility Study recommendations; however, being aware of the recent draft Facility Study provided to the School Board which gives consideration to other schools and considering necessary funding, the BUILD SCHOOLS NOW initiative includes necessary flexibility to address the most important needs for all students and what should be the most reasonable course of action.

The BUILD SCHOOLS NOW initiative also has two other critical components that should be introduced in the beginning phase. These two components are:

1. Local School Councils - individuals should be selected from local unit PTAs, parents, community leaders, business leaders, school board, school administrators and teachers, and city officials to provide a voice for all stakeholders during the creation and implementation of projects relating to new school facilities, including; but not limited to, the building design and identification of curriculums and programs.
2. Fiduciary Control Board - individuals selected from the same groups as identified in item 1 to have the responsibility of financial accountability to allow for a third-party check and balance system.

The BUILD SCHOOLS NOW initiative opens the door for collaboration between all stakeholders committed to ensuring a 21st Century public education system that allows equal access and success for all children in the city of Richmond. To do any good for the public education system we must have a clear and specific discussion of the only things that really matter - children and classrooms. No plan to improve the schools can succeed without input from the parents - and parents must be included from the beginning.

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CONTACT INFORMATION - ART BURTON (804)467-6408

Illegal Eviction by Landlord Wilder?

The Richmond City School Board was evicted from City Hall by Mayor Wilder tonight in a "bloodless coup" that represents the further dismantlling of our local democracy. My feeling, in a word, embarrassment.

When the 11 o'clock news broadcast the after-hours abuse of power by our autocratic despot, my first reaction was to feel outraged by the arrogance and audacity of this misguided and possibly illegal action. This maneuver, however repugnant, falls in line with Wilder's other recent power-plays: A witch-hunt via Big Brother style snooping into City computer usage, parlaying the corporate well-fare program that is the CenterStage performing arts center into a corporate vote of no confidence for the elected School Board. These unfortunate distractions are only an escalation of Wilder's steady stream of ego-centric bullying of our local political process since he was elected. Which brings me to my second reaction to tonight's events: The chickens have simply come home to roost. This is what 80% of Richmond's voters asked for when they abdicated their power to an all-powerful Mayor whose charge was to serve as a check on the management of our city. Or was it?

Nonetheless, cynicism aside, Richmond citizens still have the right to vote and they/we should demand that we retain every opportunity to exercise our oversight of City government. When our elected Mayor misconstrues his job as that of a landlord who can arbitrarily evict elected official tenants from City Hall, we need to put him (and Council) in check. Regardless of how you voted in the at-large mayor referendum, I don't believe that this nonsense has anything to do with the job that Wilder was hired to do.

After watching the news coverage and noting Mark Holmberg's open indignation at being kicked out of City Hall, I decided to hop on my bike and pedal down to 9th and Broad and see the spectacle for myself. In Richmond's sleepy downtown, I found roped off streets around City Hall and no one but scads of police standling idle around the building and bunch of busy movers. Among the officers, I spotted Chief of Staff, Major Bukavich, whom I'd met years ago while negotiating a permit for a rally. After some cordial remarks, I told that man that I felt that I was witnessing my democracy being dismantled under cover of darkness, and I asked the him if he thought that perhaps this action was illegal. He shrugged and said that was a matter for the courts to decide. As he walked away, I added, "Well, I guess you just gotta do what the Mayor tells you, huh?" No comment, but he did roll his eyes a bit.

Riding around City Hall a couple more times for posterity, it occurred to me that our police department should know better than to carry out orders that are contrary to the public interest. They should know that they are supposed to "protect and serve" and that they were wasting many tax-payer sponsored man-hours evicting elected officials when there are so many more pressing duties for them to carry out around the city.

So, I'd like to lay some of the blame for this act of political aggression on the armed men and women who carried it out on Wilder's whim. The political power of our elected officials is dependent on the cooperation of other public servants, and that cooperation is NOT mandatory. It is obviously out of fear that so many continually lay down for Wilder (because it's not our Mayor's charm or reason that appeals to Richmond's public employees). It is so frustrating to see our city's political officials and public servants' inability to exercise critical thinking in the interest of the public (as opposed to the general tendency to act out of self-interest). Come to think of it, Richmond's voting public probably resembles that remark as well.

People, feel free to continue this discussion via comments.