Help for Norfolk's public schools

In the graduate schools of business, public policy and education, world-class resources are available at the University of Virginia. This is due in no small part to personal investments of large amounts of time and money by two native Tidewater philanthropists, Frank Batten Sr. and Joshua P. Darden. Perhaps now is the time for the University to reciprocate to Norfolk for the educational benevolences of two of its leading citizens.

There could be no more appropriate way to recognize these two leaders' commitment and support of South Hampton Roads public schools than by seeking advice and guidance from the University of Virginia's graduate schools and other programs that these two men and their families supported with hands-on service and million-dollar resources.

The City Council is where a new direction must start for Norfolk's public schools. Such a new approach will take time and planning—perhaps of the type that UVa's Darden Business School and Curry Education School are developing in their joint programs at the graduate level. The plans, "K-12 Education Reform and Business School," are at http://blogs.darden.virginia.edu/deansblog/.

And add in the brand-new resources of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy to offer Norfolk and Tidewater both name recognition and fresh ideas. (http://www.batten.virginia.edu/)

Norfolk schools are clearly in need of new approaches, as a Virginian-Pilot editorial of 12/29/11—and a plethora of letters to the editor from citizen-taxpayers have pointed out. Business-like procedures and academic leadership must be the order of the day, if several years of setbacks to Norfolk Public Schools are to be eradicated and new leadership is to be successful. Also, Public Policy is very much at stake and in need of fresh ideas.

A recovery plan involving new perspectives from other venues in the fields of education, public policy and business seems in order. The University of Virginia's Schools named Darden and Batten are logical sources of help for Norfolk.

What observers from the surrounding state and region see in Norfolk's handling of this crisis may affect much more than just the public schools, though schools are the most important element. The local newspapers and electronic media are full of complaints from ordinary people, begging for openness and action. Norfolk's City Council needs to acknowledge its mistakes, avail itself of new leadership, and constitute a new school board.

An immediate step is to bring in an interim superintendent who is known to have trouble-shooting skills (yes, like Phil Suchet in transportation) in school situations such as Norfolk's, and get the school system back to meeting recognized, required standards. There are professionals who devote their acknowledged expertise to problem-solving in interim situations—and they give guidance and leadership without seeking the permanent job.

After taking these steps, the City Council can then set up an orderly election of a new school board, whose first job will be to identify, recruit and support a qualified permanent superintendent. May that be someone who is capable of gaining trust to do the job, of working with the school board, but not being intimidated by either the board or the City Council.

In the process, the City Council can give plenty of feedback to the public, while exerting leadership within its legal mandate. To succeed in restoring Norfolk's public schools, the City Council must listen to a high-level of professional advice in the areas of both business and education. Such resources are available at the University of Virginia.

Thus the Darden Graduate Business School and the Curry School of Education, together with the brand-new Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, would be excellent sources to help restore Norfolk Public Schools to their productive condition of 1988 through the early 2000s, when Messers Batten and Darden founded the College Access Program and guided it to maximum service for the young people and needy families of Norfolk, and eventually all of South Hampton Roads.

There could be no more appropriate recognition for the service of Frank Batten and Josh Darden to the public schools of this area than for Norfolk's City Council to call upon the resources of the University of Virginia in education, business and public policy to help bring new plans, direction and accomplishment to Norfolk's public schools. You could guess that Frank and Josh had such usefulness in mind when they worked so hard to strengthen the University in Charlottesville; surely Norfolk deserves to be an early beneficiary.

Forcing Virginia to "LOOK LIKE THE DEEP SOUTH"

Delegate Bob Marshall (Republican, Manassas, Va.) is one of Virginia's state delegates who have placed themselves above the constitutionally prescribed legislative functions of the Virginia General Assembly and are ignoring the wishes of many of the citizens of our state.

These delegates’ positions on so-called social issues are narrow and offensive to those of us who believe that hard-earned, liberal education should have much influence in determining the laws of the land, and that all citizens should have access to as much education as they can absorb and use. Universal education has made, and will make, our state a more competitive and prosperous place for people at all socio-economical levels.

Nothing that was practiced or enacted into law by our nation's founders—many of whom were native Virginians—suggests that the General Assembly of this commonwealth should intrude upon the private, social and religious practices and decisions of our citizens. But Republican legislators are trying to force our state of Virginia to "LOOK LIKE THE DEEP SOUTH" — by causing us to have low standards of education, low expectations of our citizens, and low levels of programs for our people—especially for the less fortunate ones among us.

How ironic that these social conservatives, who claim so vehemently to be Christian, are so insensitive to the needs of "the least among us," who were dear to the heart of Jesus Christ, and were recipients of his mercy and grace, according to all scriptural accounts.

Last week the movie "Gandhi" was available on a national cable TV channel. As my wife and I watched it, my abiding thought was, "If only this could be shown to the General Assembly in Richmond." Of course, all freedom-seeking peoples need to see it—especially we who are white, in this Black History Month of 2012. Two quotes from the film:

Gandhi: Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: always. 

In the words of another Virginian, General George C. Marshall, the American Secretary of State (quoted at Gandhi’s funeral), "Mahatma Gandhi had become the spokesman for the conscience of mankind, a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires."

I hope the day will soon come in Virginia when citizens of all ages will stand up and hold accountable the General Assembly for what we believe in, without violence, as Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King taught.  Our voices must be heard, all of us.

Last Saturday in Williamsburg, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that our elected officials "have lost the ability to execute even the basic functions in government, much less solve the most difficult and divisive problems facing the country." He spoke as the new chancellor of the College of William and Mary—a position that unfortunately carries no legal power, but may be a bully pulpit for proven leaders. His predecessors include Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Chief Justice Earl Warren; good company.

Williamsburg also was the home of America's "first assembly of elected representatives of the English colonists in North America, which became the Virginia House of Delegates in 1776." (wikipedia.org) That first assembly was the forerunner of today's General Assembly in Richmond.

A Gandhi quotation for Virginia’s General Assembly:

"I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you."

That comment conforms to the "wall of separation between church and state" concept as stated by Thomas Jefferson in an 1808 letter to Virginia Baptists:

“ And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries. "

Jefferson left that guidance for the General Assembly—not just for 1808 but for all time. That's what “we, the people of Virginia” want reiterated today: principles that are timeless and show wisdom, not the transitory recitations of an unduly partisan legislative body—often affected by narrow issues and viewpoints. The latter come and go; the former are forever.

Mahatma Gandhi also said it's never too late to put aside old grudges and mistakes and judgments, and move on to achieve something for a greater good.

 It's never too late.