Category Archives: politics

VCU To Host Saturday Forum on Teacher Merit Pay

Posted on by
Reply

From press release:

VCU TO HOST OCTOBER 1 FORUM ON MERIT PAY AND TEACHER EVALUATION

There is a heated debate raging across the country about reforms to change the way teachers are paid. Some reformers have argued that the key to keeping the best teachers in the profession is to reward them for their excellence with merit pay. Critics argue that merit pay relies too strongly on standardized tests results that do not validly indicate who is a better teacher than others. The Virginia Department of Education is currently partnering with a small number of districts around the state to test out different merit pay systems.

A forum will be held Saturday, Oct. 1, noon-2 p.m., in the Virginia Commonwealth University Student Commons, Virginia Rooms C and D, 907 Floyd Ave., in Richmond, to bring together a number of speakers who represent diverse opinions regarding this reform. The goal of the forum is to provide a democratic space where these views can be shared, and where the public can join the dialogue.

Panelists will include:

· Kitty Boitnott, Virginia Education Association President
· Gabriel Reich, VCU School of Education Assistant Professor
· Tichi Pinkney Eppes, Greater Richmond Education Reform Alliance
· Stephanie Hooks, Richmond Public Schools
· Mary Tedrow, National Board Certified Teacher
· Martin Reardon, VCU School of Education Associate Professor

The forum is sponsored by Richmond Teachers for Social Justice, South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Society, VCU School of Education and the Student Virginia Education Association.

###

Flying Brick Presents: Suffled How it Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans

Posted on by
1

From Facebook event page:

War and revolution in the Middle East have recently shadowed their neighbors to the west, but the denizens of the Balkans are in the midst of a new wave of their own struggles. As its people continue to suffocate between the brutalities of global capitalism and murderous power-plays of regional demagogues, anarchists and others struggle to build a new world on top of the old. Join author Shon Meckfessel, just back from the Balkans’ own Arab Spring, in a reading and spirited discussion Tuesday September 20 at 7pm at The Flying Brick Library.

Continue reading →

Defend Feeding In Public Parks

Posted on by
3

For the most part I have tried to stay above the fray in regard to this past year’s Monroe Park controversy. As I have stated before, I appreciate neighbors’ efforts with the Monroe Park Advisory Council. Most City residents would like to see a cleaner park with better features (On a side note, others have tried to say the exact opposite in regard to the park and this neighborhood as some sort of elitist way to justify more encroachment by VCU and corporate entities). They understand the need to keep the existing trees and make Monroe Park a welcoming oasis in the surrounding concrete.

While I have sympathy for the Keep Monroe Park Open Campaign and I do support Food Not Bombs mission, (especially in the face of how many wars now?), I personally think that its not necessarily the end of the world for the local homeless or the public in general that the park be temporarily closed for needed renovations. With all due respect to the history of the homeless issue in Richmond, there are other public parks in the City (and there should be more public space created overall). I have tried to steer the controversy towards compromise, but in the end that’s where I stand.

However, I also stand with Food Not Bombs for the overall right to feed people in a public park (while taking personal responsibility for trash and safety). I am very troubled by what I am hearing from Florida where activists are being arrested for feeding the homeless. This country is headed for even worst times if this is what it has come to : making it illegal to nourish a fellow human being in need in an OPEN public park. I urge Richmond to fully consider what is at stake. I hope that we will not see this sort of fascism here and I hope that Food Not Bombs feels free to return to Monroe Park (or any other public park that they so choose) after renovations are completed.

Oregon Hill Speaks Up In Favor Of Passenger Rail

Posted on by
2

At last night’s Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting, residents voted in favor of sending a letter to the Commonwealth Transportation Board asking them to support funding for Virginia’s passenger trains.

Here is some background on the issue from Virginians For High Speed Rail:

Dear Supporters,

We have launched our latest web-form to ask the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board to support the funding currently in their draft six-year transportation plan to maintain our current Amtrak Northeast Regional Service and future expansion to Norfolk.

This funding is vital to the continued operation of the regional trains that serve Alexandria, Manassas, Burke, Woodbridge, Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Ashland, Richmond, Williamsburg, Newport News, Lynchburg, with future stops in Norfolk and eventually Roanoke.

Please help us encourage the CTB to fully fund passenger rail over the next six years!

To view and sign the message go to www.vhsr.com/action/sixyearplan

Sincerely,

Danny Plaugher

Follow us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/VAHSR
Follow us on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/VHSR
Make a tax-deductible contribution at www.VHSR.com/donate

Its worth noting that OHNA’s support and this current issue are about maintaining and improving our current passenger rail, not necessarily more expensive high speed rail.

Oregon Hill REDISTRICTED!

Posted on by
1

From the Fan community news site:

Redistricting of the State Senate and House of Delegates districts based on the 2010 Census numbers was made official recently, with some impact on the neighborhood.

A piece of the Fan close to Monroe Park, all of Oregon Hill and Byrd Park, and much of the Forest Hill area that have been part of State Senate District 9, currently held by Donald McEachin (D), will now be in State Senate District 10, held by John Watkins (R). Interestingly, with these and other changes, both of these Senate districts are now less partisan than before the redistricting: District 9 has been redistricted to be 6.3% more Republican (up to a whopping 36.5%), while District 10 is now 7.5% more Democratic (40.7%).

Upcoming…

Posted on by
Reply

Really Really Free Market Saturday
School choice group meets Saturday
Disney’s Beauty and The Beast continues at the Landmark Theater
Pine Street yard/garage sale on Saturday-

May Day Parade…er…Celebration on Sunday
Pescados brunch service starts on Sunday
Monday is City Council budget meeting…perhaps we will see if Patrick Henry School gets more funding.
And don’t forget that Tuesday is the first official Byrd Market of the year!
Also Tuesday, there’s a meeting about Richmond’s transportation policy…I might have a few thoughts on that.

Parental Choice Group Forms in Richmond

Posted on by
Reply

From Richmond Magazine article:

A new organization has emerged from the seemingly perpetual public-policy dust-up surrounding Richmond’s first public charter school and last year’s state law changes that simplify the process of creating new charter schools in Virginia.

The Greater Richmond Education Reform Alliance will hold an organizational and informational meeting this Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Anointed Worship Center, at 4909 Government Road, located in the Fulton area of Richmond’s East End. The event is open to all, says Keisha Cummings, chairwoman of the board of the newly formed advocacy group.

“What it is is a call to action,” says Cummings, who previously served as the first Parent Teacher Association president at the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, where her daughter attends. “We want to inform people about what we’re talking about … and help them to advocate for whatever it is that they want for their children.”

By focusing its advocacy efforts on the more broad “whatever” that parents may seek, Cummings says, the new group seeks to avoid endorsing a single option — or even to risk appearing to be advocating against more traditional public schools.

“The organization was started to educate parents and to advocate for education reform, and to do that by educating parents in Richmond and the metro area,” she says. “It’s not so much we’re advocating for charter schools, but education options.”

May Day Parade Controversy

Posted on by
9

Despite the American Civil Liberties Union’s assistance, the memorandum opinion 4-28-11 came out today against the plaintiff.

From the Times Dispatch article:

A federal judge on Thurday morning turned down an ACLU bid that would allow an activist group to hold a May Day parade in Richmond without paying for off-duty police escorts.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed with the ruling, and our clients will have to make a decision on how to proceed,” said Rebecca Glenberg, legal director of the ACLU of Virginia.

In a ruling, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson wrote, among other things, that the group failed to show the Richmond police decision to deny the parade permit “was based on anything other than reasonable public policy considerations.”

The ACLU asked Hudson to allow the Richmond May Day Coalition/Organizing Committee to hold a May Day parade Sunday without paying $294 for off-duty police officers to serve as escorts.

The “May Day International Workers Day” was expected to draw 200 or more participants and involve marching bands, banners, flags, a bull horn and a small public address system, said city officials.

The parade would start at Monroe Park, proceed west on Main Street, north on Lombardy Street, east on Broad Street, south on Laurel Street and end back at Monroe Park.

Scenes From The Launch of RVA GREEN

Posted on by
2

The sun literally came out…

More photos on the Sierra Club Falls of the James’ blog site.

And now for some editorializin’….

With this, Mayor Jones shows that he gets it.

As with stormwater and bicycle initiatives, the City of Richmond is leading the whole region.

Yes, there are always be a need for tweaking plans and there will be hiccups that need addressing (including moving from “Big Energy” to “Local Energy“), but today a lot of folks are proud to call themselves Richmonders.