Sen. Houck holds forum on ed cuts

LOCUST GROVE — Residents, teachers, parents and educators from throughout the region expressed concern about several issues during a forum on education funding held Saturday by Sen. Edd Houck.

Houck, D-Spotsylvania, briefly described the state of education funding in Virginia before the General Assembly begins its 60-day session on Wednesday.

“It breaks my heart,” said Houck, an educator for 34 years.

During the forum at Germanna Community College’s Locust Grove campus, Houck explained Gov. Tim Kaine’s proposed cuts to education funding for the 2011-2012 fiscal year budget, which is about $4.2 billion short.

Houck told the crowd of about 80 people that education funding, which makes up about 35 percent of the state’s budget, would be cut by about $319 million, according to Kaine’s proposed biennial budget. The cuts could include a cut in support staff, administration funding and higher education among other areas.

The proposed budget includes eliminating personal property tax relief for localities and a 1-percent sales tax increase.

Most of the people who spoke during the comment section of the forum thanked Houck for being a friend to education and asked him to take their concerns to other members of the General Assembly.

One of the concerns expressed included flexibility in spending and government mandates. Several teachers and administrators said they are constrained by federal and state requirements that are forcing them to focus on complying with requirements instead of on children.

Several people also questioned why several of the cuts introduced in Kaine’s bill would be permanent. They suggested that the cuts be made temporary until the recession is over or until there is some state and national improvement.

Nate Lane, a teacher in Culpeper County, said permanent cuts would make it seem that the members of the General Assembly either don’t care about education or that they don’t expect the economy to improve.

Kathy Burcher, legislative chairwoman for the Virginia Parent Teacher Association, said that if the changes were permanent, a recovery in the economy would not result in a recovery in schools.
Lane also said that classrooms and schools are seriously underfunded when it comes to supplies and technology.

“Students have better technology in their pockets than we have in our schools,” Lane said.

He said that cutting education would result in less educated adults who might enter the workforce and help the economy improve if they were to receive a good education.

Houck recognized that idea earlier when he said that higher education was a tool for economic growth.

Judy Hample, president at University of Mary Washington, said she and her administration could raise tuition to make up for budget cuts, but that there are fewer dollars per student now then there was in 1999.

Several parents of disabled students as well as special education teachers were in attendance including two parents of children with Down syndrome who are in Culpeper schools. They expressed concern over cuts in Medicaid aid as well as government waivers that help special needs children.

Ed Olson’s son, Benjamin, 4, is a student at Pearl Sample Elementary School and has Down syndrome and autism. Olson said he hasn’t worked since April because no one is available to help with home care for his son and that the federal government may put a hold on a waiver that provides Benjamin with home care, occupational training and other resources.

Karen Kowalski’s 8-year-old daughter also has Down syndrome. She said there are not enough teachers and aides and that those who are teaching do not have the money and resources they need to provide a fair education to special needs children. Kowalski also works in the school system and said that the teachers who are there are good, but they are torn between caring for children and providing for their own families.

Olson is trying to get a job as a bus driver so he can make more money as well as try to find a way to make the bus route his son takes faster. Benjamin would have to spend up to two and a half hours on a bus to get home from school, which his doctors have said he should not do.

Burcher said one of the biggest issues was that a majority of parents do not understand the impact budget cuts will have on their children. She and several others said that government officials and citizens needed to get the word out about the cuts so that those who will be affected will be informed.

Houck encouraged attendees to take Burcher’s advice and talk to their neighbors about the cuts as well as remain involved by calling and writing their legislators.