I know all of you are having an absolute fit every morning when you wake up, scroll over your phone or turn on the news to the Trump Outrage of the Day/Hour/Moment. It’s so easy to get worked up about it, to yell, scream and fire off an angry email or phone call to a congress member or a senator. 

Which you should continue to do. That’s all well and good. But remember, the 2020 election is still more than a year away. We have some work to do in the meantime — namely, elect our great candidates to the General Assembly so they can tip the delicate scale in the state Senate and House of Delegates in our favor. 

If you need some motivation to do something positive instead of a rant about something negative, I have two words for you: teacher salaries. In the Northam administration, we are seeing some of the best gains in teacher salaries since the 1980s. Those of you with long memories will recall that Chuck Robb campaigned way back in 1981 on raising teacher salaries in Virginia to the national median, and beyond. It was a winning formula then, but as Republicans took control of the House of Delegates and the Senate (save five years) in this millennium, Virginia has been losing ground in the ability to compensate the people we entrust with our children’s learning.

Take a look at the numbers that the Virginia Department of Education puts out. Since 2006, Virginia has topped the national median only once, and it’s generally been in 30th place nationally in compensating teachers. That’s North Dakota, Maine, and Montana territory, not to cast aspersions on those fine states. In 2017-18, Virginia was 34th nationally in average teacher salaries, about $650 more than (gasp!) Alabama. From 2009 to 2016, the average teacher salary in Virginia increased by 0.61 percent a year, hardly enough to keep up with just about anything.

To be sure, economic conditions, tight state and local budgets, and the difference between suburban and rural parts of the state all come into play. But there’s no mistaking the trendline. That’s why Gov. Northam pitched an additional $88 million to bump teacher salaries up by 5 percent. “Raising teacher pay is one step to securing the quality of our K-12 education system for years to come,” he said. Thank you, governor.

How about our own Hanover? Many factors are at play, but the fact is the average Hanover teacher salary was $47,479 in 2009; five years later it had gained only about $800. But for 2019, the average budgeted salary in Hanover exceeded the state budgeted average for the first time in recorded history ($59,051 versus $58,7149, according to state data). That’s a trendline to be proud of.

You can do a lot of things with statistics, but the teacher salary numbers are pretty clear. Guns and health care are likely to dominate this fall’s debate for the General Assembly, and well they should. But teachers have a day-to-day effect on every single child they encounter and to shortchange them is to shortchange our kids. It’s another reason to ignore the national-level blather for a spell and work on the task at hand — giving Gov. Northam more support and more tools to raise educational attainment in Virginia.

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Three-Part Two Cents

Donald Trump’s racism has served as an open door to other racists, encouraging them to come out into the sunshine. And so, 13 KKK members grabbed their sheets and held a rally in Hanover in early July. It was a short 15 minutes, but as you will see, it’s left a deep scar on our county.  

In this month’s Two Cents column, three HDC members give their response to this unwanted intrusion: Pat Hein who witnessed the demonstration taking place right outside her front door, Ashland District Supervisor Faye Prichard, the only supervisor who gave a strong response telling the Klan to stay out of our county, and Sandra Howard, the chair of the HDC Black Caucus who passionately spoke for minority citizens of Hanover. 

Let’s heal this ugly scar by winning more seats on the board of supervisors, winning seats in the State Senate, and winning seats in the House. Canvass, phone bank, write postcards and donate! Toni Radler

First Cent

By Patricia Hein

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Black caucus response to kkk

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Overdevelopment- Major Issue

Next Meeting—Focus on One of the Hottest Campaign Issues

Overdevelopment and Hanover’s inability to handle it is one of the hottest issues in the 2019 Board of Supervisors race. Pattie Bland, chair of the Coalition for Hanover’s Futures, and Faye Prichard, Ashland District Supervisor on the Board of Supervisors, will be our guest speakers at the next meeting of the Hanover Democratic Committee on Saturday, August 10 at 10 a.m. at Ashland Coffee & Tea to discuss the need to protect our rural communities, fight overdevelopment, and ensure that we have the infrastructure needed to handle what’s happening in Hanover.  Don’t miss this meeting as Pattie and Faye discuss one of the biggest threats facing Hanover—and what it means to you and your pocketbook.

That’s Saturday, August 10 at 10 a.m. at Coffee & Tea.

Big Change Coming Up

Starting in OCTOBER, we will be meeting at a new location…until then, we will continue to meet at Ashland Coffee & Tea. Cate Hawkes, owner of Ashland Coffee & Tea has helped us secure another meeting place starting in OCTOBER, right across the street at the Depot in Crosses. The Depot, which is on the right side of the Crosses store, seats 200, and will be able to serve us coffee. Owner Chris Stem will also be able to serve us breakfast rolls, etc. The reason for the move is that Cate and Mike Hawkes are renting out the room we currently use to retail, while maintaining the coffee shop in the front. We love Ashland Coffee & Tea and Cate and Mike, and we hate to move. But this was a move needed to ensure the success of Ashland Coffee & Tea. We really appreciate Cate helping us locate at Crosses. Parking is in the back, and certainly will be very convenient. Please just remember that for August and September we are still at Ashland Coffee & Tea. We don’t move until the OCTOBER meeting. More information at our meeting in August.

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Men's Forum

at the home of

Nelson Vaughan

209 College Avenue, Ashland VA

Wednesday, August 28 at 6:30 pm

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Long Live America

by, Betsy Farley

Donald Trump is planning a July 4th party to celebrate himself. He is also suggesting he will stay in office long after the constitutional maximum of two terms. This is not what the 4th represents. Look back at the Declaration of Independence, it is one of the most important United States historical documents. Take time to read and think about what is stated in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. It is something we should do every 4th.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Donald Trump, get a grip. You are not the change agent! Long live America and God Bless.

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