In November voters in Richmond overwhelmingly supported a change to the city’s charter, pressuring leaders to come up with a plan to fully renovate city schools. This week, Virginia’s Governor signed that ballot measure into law. That means the clock is now ticking for the Mayor’s office.
Richmond’s Mayor Levar Stoney has until the end of the year to come up with a fully funded plan to revamp the city’s crumbling schools without raising taxes. Or he could admit it’s not possible.
“The schools in Richmond were considered obsolete, unhealthy and dysfunctional when the parents of the kids went to them,” says Paul Goldman.
Goldman is a former chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia. He wrote the referendum and pushed to get it on the ballot.
At some point you just have to have the will, the principle, to draw a line in the sand and say ‘Look, 63 years it ends with me, it ends today,’.” says Goldman.
City officials estimate it could cost $800 million to modernize all 44 city schools. Critics of the referendum say asking the Mayor to come up with that money through cuts alone, puts him in an impossible position.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
