To the Editor:
I was surprised to receive a flyer from Kerry Donley last week alleging that his opponents for mayor have not been strong supporters of our public schools. Mr. Donley’s negative advertising of the kind we all abhor is based on half-truths and misrepresentations.
Mr. Donley makes a number of allegations to suggest that he has been a better steward of our public schools than his opponents. While Mr. Donley served on City Council and as mayor, Alexandria’s schools struggled to achieve state accreditation based on student performance on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) or standardized tests. When Mr. Donley left office as mayor in 2003, 84 percent of all public schools in Virginia were fully accredited and 15 percent were accredited with warning. By contrast in Alexandria, only 75 percent were fully accredited; 25 percent were accredited with warning. Alexandria lagged behind other school divisions across Virginia.
Mr. Donley alleges that both of his opponents voted to cut the ACPS budget for pre-school programs for needy students. First, it should be noted while Mr. Donley served on the City Council from 1998 to 1996 and as mayor until 2003, there were no pre-schools programs operated by our public schools for needy children. These programs were not developed until Dr. Morton Sherman became superintendent in 2008. One has to wonder why Mr. Donley has raised this issue now as it does not appear to have been a priority of his at any time during his public career.
Moreover, as anyone knowledgeable of the city’s budgetary process knows, the city appropriates a lump sum of money to the public schools based on the schools’ budget request; there are no line items like proposed pre-school funding for the City Council to approve or cut. For 2016, the City Council authorized a $198.8 million transfer to our public schools. The school board following its own budgetary process has the final authority as to how these funds will be spent, including funding for pre-school programs.
As to Mr. Donley’s assertion that while he was mayor, the school’s per pupil per annum expenditure was the highest in the state, Alexandria has led the state in per pupil spending (and teacher salaries) for many years. More recently, the per pupil per annum expenditure has decreased because of the sharp increase in student enrollment — growing from approximately 10,000 students in 2006 to over 14,000 today. Mr. Donley’s assertion that the expenditure of money alone results in achievement for students is also quite mistaken. It is the hard work of teachers and principals together with their parents that results in exemplary student achievement.
Instead of negative advertising, Mr. Donley would serve our community’s interests better by committing himself to building new schools and renovating others to serve our growing student population, improving services for children with disabilities, enriching programs for both our talented and needy students, and otherwise supporting the superintendent’s efforts to enhance the achievement of all students. If all Mr. Donley can do is to try to make issues with his opponents where none exist, why is he running for mayor?
Arthur E. Peabody, Jr.
Chair, Alexandria City School Board, 2006
Member, 2006-2012