South of the James

This past week witnessed the groundbreaking at the Meadowville Technology Park near the Enon section of eastern Chesterfield. County leaders, businesses and residents have been waiting a long time for this project, which packs a two-fold punch: 1. It continues the revitalization and new development in the county's eastern I-295 corridor (and by extension, the Jeff Davis Corridor), and 2. It represents another step in balancing the county's tax burden between residential and commercial sources.

Notably, the article reports that after the initial 600 or so employees take their positions with Northrop Grumman and the Virginia Information Technology Agency, upwards of 500 additional jobs will be in the works. The state and local government leaders who worked to bring this public-private effort to fruition deserve a measure of credit. Readers will remember that elements of this project were covered in an earlier guest column on this blog that brought quite a bit of controversy at the time.

Whereas western Chesterfield is the center of the residential boom (and some accompanying retail), the eastern end remains the industrial core of the county. For those "westerners" who are unfamiliar with places such as Chester, Enon, Walthall, and even Bellwood, it would be well worth their time to check out this side of Chesterfield. What they will see is a very different county than the one in which they inhabit – a Chesterfield that is more diverse in many ways and that represents a different set of opportunities & challenges for the county's public and private sector leadership. 

Projects like Meadowville, Cloverleaf, and the on-going Jeff Davis corridor revitalization will have a measurable positive impact on the economic fortunes the entire county if successful. At a minimum, if those new jobs actually materialize, it could give county residents who current commute outside of Chesterfield for work a chance to simply drive across their county.

by Conaway Haskins

Cross-posted on Open Forum.

Sunday's Richmond Times-Dispatch broached the subject of Chesterfield's fleet of trailers that double as classroom space for crowded schools. In the article, parents complained about their children sitting through instruction in them, school board members decried their lack of control of the process by blaming the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, and teachers actually talked of preferring the “learning cottages” to the larger school environment which is more distracting.

In general, the article seemed to come down against trailers, but noted their efficacy and lower costs versus building new schools. This issue has come up before in the local media as back in October, the Chesterfield Observer reported on the capacity issues that county schools face, with nearly 300 trailers in use. However, in southern and western Chesterfield, Matoaca High School was notably under its capacity at the time.

On the surface, it would seem that the advent of trailer usage is problematic, and for those who prefer to see students receive their entire education inside the brick walls of a school building, that is understandable. However, probing a bit deeper, the trailer issue is more complex than it initially appears. Several factors are at play that demand looking at this issue in its entirety, nuances and all.

First, the over-capacity of the county schools is a positive symptom of the high quality education that attracts parents – especially new families moving into Chesterfield – to county schools for their children. Despite criticism, the fact remains that Chesterfield enjoys an excellent reputation among the districts in the Commonwealth. No where is this more apparent than in the selection of Dr. Billy Cannaday as Virginia’s Superintendent of the Year in 2005, and his recent tapping as Superintendent of Public Instruction for the entire state by Gov. Kaine. By most metrics, Chesterfield is educating its students well, and people want to have their kids be a part of that.

Second, the over-capacity issue is due to the county's reticence to spend money on new construction in a time frame that satifies the demand. While there are true needs for upgrading and replacement of facilities, in some perverse manner, the usage of trailers represents a measure if fiscal prudence. New schools and all of their accoutrements are a source of pride for a district and for parents, but with the increase in construction and transportation costs that have occurred in recent years, trailers are a lot cheaper to accommodate.

Third, the over-capacity and resulting trailer usage has not necessarily been linked to lower educational performance. As the RTD article notes, a number of teachers actually find advantages in the separate facilities, not the least of which are the on-going potential for distractions normally found in a regular building. Conversations with teachers in Chesterfield and other districts support this notion. Essentially, the argument has not sufficiently been made that trailers are detrimental to a student’s education. On the contrary, anecdotal evidence holds that they may indeed be better.

On a personal note, this writer is young enough to recall being educated in the same type of trailers during grade school. Growing up in a rural area, the school district could not afford to add physical capacity to the extent that a wealthier district like Chesterfield could. As a result, the schools had to rely on trailers to relieve over-crowding. At the time, we students were not happy to be taken out of the school building to take classes in trailers, but our sentiments reflected our desires to socialize and mischief-make more than our concern for quality education. The physical separation seemed to work better for the teachers who felt more control over the classroom environment and who also had the flexibility to experiment with instructional methods that may have garnered a bit of attention had they happened in the traditional setting. On balance, the trailers not only measured up to the regular classrooms, but in some ways they were better.

This issue will continue to vex Chesterfield until the capacity rates, county residential growth rates, and public revenues come closer in line. In the interim, all citizens would be well served to consider multiple sides of this issue in a thoughtful manner.

By now, Open Forum readers should have noticed the changes in appearance of the blog. This new format should provide better reader feedback, and hopefully, it will be a bit easier on the eyes. Readers will also notice that our writing policy is upfront: the views expressed here are the responsibility of the individual writer and not necessarily reflective of the RGAC’s view point.

Additionally, you will notice that we now have a great number of new links along the blog’s side panel. These are designed to help RGAC members and readers navigate the world of growth and development with links to websites of key local players, Greater Richmond regional organizations of interest, and national research & information websites that will keep you up-to-date with coverage of the latest best practices and emerging issues.

If you see anything that is missing that you feel should be included on this website, please let us know. As always, you can contact us at responsiblegrowth@gmail.com.

Thanks!
Conaway

Over at Commonwealth Iconoclast, Will Vaught – one of the best investigative bloggers in Virginia – takes a gander at some local politicking going on in Lunenburg County by the newly-appointed sheriff. When the last special election was held following the untimely and shockingly sad death of Sheriff Wesley Adams, the majority of the 7 candidates (including the second and third-place finishers who are involved with this latest matter) vying for the spot were current or former deputies in the Lunenburg Department. 

Additionally, after probing the outcome of an election in neighboring Nottoway, where the editor of the major newspaper there was elected mayor, it looks like Will is going to give Lunenburg a similar treatment. One of the local supervisors is also the editor of that county's sole newspaper of record. With Will on the case, one thing is for certain: business-as-usual will never quite be the same down in the "Old Free State."

Because a friend of my family is involved in the Sheriff's office situation, I will refrain from commenting for now. But, just in case anyone ever wondered what stoked my interests in politics and relative intolerance of "good-ole-boy" government, just mosey on down to the greater Kenbridge-Victoria area. There's a lot of devilish behavior down in "God's Country."

The latest Village News issue brings more information about the emerging Cloverleaf Mall development deal. According to the article, the developer brings a lot of experience in fashioning Traditional Neighborhood Development projects that blend residential, retail, and commercial uses. The location of the site is being touted as linking Richmond with Chesterfield’s Midlothian corridor.

With previous concerns in some corners over the future of Chesterfield Towne Center being negatively affected (real or imagined) by Watkins Centre, it will be interesting to see if those same voices raise similar concerns about the “new” Cloverleaf. TND’s have done wonders for Virginia locales such as Arlington and Newport News, and two mixed-use developments at opposite ends of this county could bode well for both the county’s reputation and its attempts to generate increased commercial taxes to balance out the heavy dependence on residential taxes for financing government activities.

Tell us what you think!

As the 2006 Congressional races have kicked into full gear, Democrats have been salivating at the prospect of running against the so-called “culture of corruption” of GOP-dominated Washington. However, three recent controversies – inside and outside the Beltway – involving Southern and Mid-Atlantic Democrats, could nullify the efficacy of this strategy altogether.First, West Virginia Rep. Alan Mollohan (D) came under investigation for directing contributions to nonprofit organizations linked to his campaign contributors. Next, Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson (D) had his Capitol Hill office raided by the FBI. Now, the Washington Post is reporting that Doug Duncan, the chief executive of Maryland’s largest locality – Montgomery County – and one of the two high-profile candidates for the Democratic nomination for that state’s governorship, is returning campaign contributions that are "related to or affiliated with" disgraced DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Though each situation presents a different set of facts, and likely different outcomes, they all point to the fact that no political party has a monopoly on virtue or vice. Given the rules of the game, impropriety or the appearance thereof is merely a matter of degrees and who is in power. In a region like the South and a state like Virginia, where Republicans and conservatives are the dominant forces and “running against Washington” is commonplace, the corruption angle is probably not a ballot-box winner outside of a few specific districts.

In light of these emerging scandals, real or imagined, it would seem like a good opportunity for Democratic and progressive politicians, to actually offer alternative policy solutions and ideas that appeal to voters and to not simply cast themselves as more ethically sound than Republicans and conservatives. As the 2004 presidential race showed, merely presenting your party and candidates as the opposite of others is not enough; standing for something substantive is much more important.

On Wednesday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch provided its first reporting on a federal case involving Sen. Steve Martin (R-Chesterfield). This matter has been circulating around the blogosphere for months with particularly in-depth coverage by blogger, The Jaded JD. Ben Tribbett's Not Larry Sabato blog has also provided coverage of the political ramifications of the case. According to the paper, Martin, one of the Senate's conservative stalwarts, believes that "that political parties should be able to exercise the freedom to associate with whomever they want by restricting primaries to party members."

Currently, Virginia law does not allow official registration by party, and one result of this is the Commonwealth's system of open primaries. Although it is quite inconvenient for heavier party control over the nominating process, the open system is one of the endearingly quirky features of Virginia politics. However, the Chesterfield Republican is seemingly unconcerned with preserving a unique element of the Commonwealth's political heritage. Martin is represented in court by his GOP compatriot, lawyer Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) who "argued that Martin could be damaged politically by crossover voters who do not have Martin's best interests at heart."

It appears that Sen. Martin fears that his 2007 reelection bid would be damaged if his opponents somehow motivate scores of Martin-haters to vote in the primary in this heavily Republican district. He is quite active in the affairs of the Chesterfield County Republican Committee to a greater extent than his local General Assembly colleagues. In April, the Chesterfield Observer gave some insight to the nature of his activities by reporting on the election of new leaders for the CCRC. Sen. Martin essentially put forward a slate of his preferred candidates just ahead of the 2007 Board of Supervisors and General Assembly election cycle. 

The Martin slate was apparently focused on preserving the status quo of the current Republican-led board, and that group met opposition from a group of county residents who offered up their own Republican leadership package. What the article clearly demonstrates is that some of these Republicans – who were turned back by Martin's team - were fed up with what they see as poor governance by the current GOP-dominated county board. The senator went on to state that "it's the same group of about 15 people who are trying to create dissension." 

The Observer reporter gratuitously added his own observation that "[Martin] was primarily referring to those [15 people] who are members or are connected to the Responsible Growth Alliance of Chesterfield (disclosure: this writer is a board member of the aforementioned organization but has not been involved with the activities of Republican Party on any level). It is also an open secret around Chesterfield that Martin has engaged in a running battle with certain county residents who are involved with the RGAC, going as far as to call for closed sessions at CCRC meetings to discuss committee business in order to exclude those residents from the inner workings of the committee. 

Additionally, recent electoral trends in Chesterfield probably undergird Martin's concern over control of the party nomination processes. As noted by the Observer, "though Chesterfield County is still strongly Republican, that majority declined to just an 8,000 vote margin in last year's gubernatorial election when Democrat Tim Kaine was elected over Republican Jerry Kilgore. In the 1990's Chesterfield Republicans delivered at least a 25,000 vote margin to aid statewide gubernatorial candidates." In other words, it is not a great time to be a Republican leader in Chesterfield these days.

Weakening electoral strength, a mixed record of municipal financial management, the embarrassing "chartered plane" affair, the citizens being arrested at public hearings simply for disagreeing with county policymakers, tensions between moderates and conservatives in the statewide party, and ever-louder voices of citizens desiring stronger action toward growth controls by the county could spell disaster in 2007 for Chesterfield Republicans. If these issues all come to a head in the coming months, Sen. Martin's road to reelection (and those of local GOP elected officials) could be a bit rockier, especially if a GOP primary challenger emerges who could garner the support of Independents, Democrats, and disgruntled Republicans alike. Thus, it is quite easy to see why Martin wants to close off partisan primary processes to those who are not true-blue party members.

Arguments for closed primaries are admittedly compelling as it stands to reason that a political party would rather have control over who gets to participate in its nomination process. However, the current open regime brings a vibrancy to Virginia's political system, forcing parties and candidates to campaign with the general election in mind, not merely appealing to their respective bases. It also gives unaffiliated voters a say in who they ultimately get to cast their ballots for, not simply leaving it to the shenanigans and maneuvering of the political classes.

Regardless of the judicial outcome, one thing is clear: politicians who want to do away with the system should not run to the courts to seek relief. Rather, if they believe that the open process of citizen participation is such a burden and threat, then they should either pass relevant legislation in the General Assembly so that the people's duly-elected representatives can decide, or better yet, they should put it directly to the people themselves. After all, it is the best interests of the citizens – not the politicians – that should be "at heart."

Citizens of Chesterfield, it's time to let your voices be heard! Open Forum  - the official blog of the Responsible Growth Alliance of Chesterfield – is looking for contributors who are passionate about what's happening here in Chesterfield, who want their feelings known, and who can communicate articulately in writing. If this description fits you, please consider being participating with us.

The rules will be simple at first: tell the truth, be creative, don't gratuitously attack someone, and always have evidence or crystal-clear logic to back up what you say.

You'll send us your work, we will edit it for grammar, you will review the final version, and then we will post it to the blog. We are not looking for writers who always agree with us or the organization, but we are looking for those who are willing to engage with their fellow citizens, public leaders, and the media about issues and subjects of importance to them regarding the quality of life and economic development in our county. If you're up for the challenge, please join us.

For more information, contact Conaway Haskins, RGAC Director At-Large and Open Forum Publisher-Editor, at responsiblegrowth@gmail.com.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column for Bacon's Rebellion about the fact that there virtually no undergraduate teacher education bachelor's degree programs in Virginia. I did not link to it on this blog at the time, but it did make its way around the Commonwealth via email. To date, the reaction has been mostly positive, and I've found much more information about this issue. Not to beat a dead horse, but teacher training and education gets short shrift in the on-going debate over education reform. Yet, teachers are expected to perform at their best no matter what level of preparation they may have. Additionally, the use of averages often hides problems lying beneath the surface. As the initial column sparked interest from various corners, I will revisit this issue from time to time on the blogs, and hopefully, in upcoming issues of Bacon's Rebellion. For now, the future of our schoolchildren is too important for me to back off.

—————-

Teaching Our Teachers

With the General Assembly entangled in an extended session over transportation gridlock, other issues have taken a backseat in the public consciousness. Despite the lip service given to educational improvements in the 2005 elections, no major changes in the Commonwealth’s delivery of education services have emerged, leaving true improvements wanting.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, considering that 92 percent of Virginia's public schools meet statewide standards for student performance. The Commonwealth has developed and implemented among the most stringent elementary and secondary education standards in the nation. Although some school districts still fail in their duty to that are failing in their duty to educate students, particularly lower-income and minority children, the notion that Virginia’s schools are broken is suspect. 

One important issue, however, still needs resolution — teacher training and credentialing. If one peers past the current, seemingly encouraging statistics, a significant problem is looming.

According the Commonwealth’s educational report card, the percentage of teachers covering core instructional subjects who fall short of standards set by federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) standards has declined from over 16.5 percent four years ago to 4.4 percent last year. Forty-three percent of all teachers have earned a masters degree or higher. Under NCLB, core academic subjects are those such as English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, art, history and geography.

There are spots of concern. In high-poverty districts, the percentage rises to 6.5 percent, compared to 2.8 percent in low-poverty districts. Another 7.1 percent of teachers have earned only “provisional” licensing. Overall, these numbers are satisfactory — for the moment. But they do not take into account current and future teacher shortages in classrooms across the state.

According the Virginia Department of Education’s 2002 Report on Supply and Demand of Instructional Personnel in Virginia: 2001-2002, “Estimates of the supply of teachers and administrators over the next five years provide little remedy for the current shortages. Although teaching programs graduate many new teachers each year in Virginia, the rate of retirements and attrition is increasing. Research at the national level has projected significant and growing shortages throughout the country, particularly in the endorsement areas of science, mathematics, foreign languages, and special education. Data from the 2001-2002 survey concur with national projections.”

In 2002, more than four percent of available teaching positions went unfilled statewide, with higher gaps in Fairfax and Southside Virginia, areas on opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. With the impending retirements of Baby Boomers, an even bigger shortage looms. The supply is not sufficient to offset retirements and demand created by increasing enrollments.

A number of responses have been proposed, notably the career switcher programs, alternative licensing programs, and initiatives to assist less-qualified teachers meet standards. One potential solution has been notably missing from the teacher education equation – offering formal bachelor’s degrees in education at Virginia’s institutions of higher education. Currently, Virginia’s teacher education provisions prevent colleges and universities from awarding undergraduate education degrees in most subjects outside of arts, special education and vocational education.

According to officials at the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV), the Commonwealth's policy dates back to 1986, when then-Gov. Baliles convened a Commission on Excellence in Education charged with developing of a set of recommendations that would "place Virginia's public elementary and secondary schools into the first-rank in education in the nation." As an outgrowth of those discussions, Virginia's college and universities refocused their teacher training programs on subject matter and not on educational pedagogy. The state mandated that undergraduates NOT be offered majors in elementary or secondary education and natural or social science education (those core subjects under NCLB). Instead, students desiring teaching careers are required to pursue bachelor's degrees in the content area in which they would eventually teach, while taking supplemental courses in education fields. Since 1990, education has been relegated to the practical equivalent of a minor field of study.

Thus, “history education” majors gave way to history majors with an interest and some coursework in education. Today, Virginia's grade-school students’ only exposure to instructors who earned undergraduate education degrees from Virginia colleges and universities after the 1990 changes are in subjects such as music, art, agriculture, and physical education. An amazing irony is that these classes are most vulnerable to cutbacks in today's high-stakes SOL testing environment in favor of core subjects.

Virginia's university-level education schools do offer masters and doctoral programs in education. Therefore, individuals interested in education-specific degrees must enroll in graduate programs. On top of that, they must take several standardized tests and conduct student teaching if they are to be fully credentialed. For those who want to teach for less than three years, no credentials are required for the first three years of teaching.

Over the past year, I have spoken with a number of dedicated educators – superintendents, central office personnel, administrators, classroom teachers – who believe that this approach to teacher education should be reconsidered. Smaller rural districts and harder-pressed urban districts note that the current rules may serve as an impediment to recruiting and retaining a well-trained teaching force. Such school districts lose promising young teachers to higher-paying districts or to school systems in communities with better quality of life. In some cases, schools have hired less-qualified instructors, including those who have not passed the requisite examinations and even those with little or no education coursework, for up to the three years allowed under state law.

In some areas, provisionally certified teachers represent a significant proportion of classroom instructors. One school superintendent noted anecdotally that more psychology majors had been hired to teach classes in that district than other types of degree holders. For those targeting education majors, recruitment sometimes focuses on adjacent states like Maryland and North Carolina which offer a fuller complement of undergraduate education degrees.

Admittedly, no definitive “proof” exists as to whether teachers with undergraduate education majors in education are inherently better than those who pick liberal arts, science, or other majors and simply take the requisite education courses. Still, a strong case can be made that in the decade-and-a-half since Virginia’s policy was implemented, the environment of public education has shifted considerably. With No Child Left Behind placing emphasis on teacher quality and qualifications as a measure of academic progress, it would seem prudent for Virginia’s leaders to rethink the Commonwealth’s teacher education regime. While Tarheel and Terrapin alums are no doubt well-qualified to teach, I'm sure that Virginia families would also like to see their kids taught by a fair share of equally-prepared Cavaliers, Hokies, Rams, Patriots or Trojans.

Even if a wholesale policy change is not on the horizon, it stands to reason that Virginia should encourage its higher education institutions to explore developing more specific undergraduate educational degree programs. Doing so would not necessarily detract from their current menu of options, which they will undoubtedly guard closely, but it may allow for greater academic preparation for students who are seriously committed to becoming teachers earlier in their careers. At best, such efforts may help needier districts gain access to a greater supply of qualified teaching prospects. At worse, it could help Virginians assess the true benefits of a 16-year-old policy, thus enhancing accountability.

As it stands now, our colleges and universities are producing credentialed and educated professionals in fields such as marketing, accounting, engineering, criminal justice, and even sports management. Yet, when it comes to getting a degree in education, future teachers enrolled in Virginia higher education institutions remain SOL.

May 1, 2006

In Sunday’s Richmond Times-Dispatch, reporter Julian Walker gives us a brief look into the emerging traffic safety and traffic congestion issues on Chesterfield’s western roadways. For those who regularly drive along highways in the developing corridors, this matter is particularly frustrating for some motorists as the time it takes to travel through and to local communities increases along with the accompanying rise in dangers inherent with the current road infrastructure.

Much talk has been made about the need for better integration of transportation and land-use decision-making, but so far, very little has changed. At the same time, some of this comes down to free market dynamics that govern household location decisions and commercial prospecting. It’s a classic conundrum for local officials, businesses, and community residents alike.

Here’s an opportunity for you to tell us what you think about this critical concern for residents of high-growth portions of Chesterfield county.