Fellow Republicans: Conservative values compel us to stand up for rural schools

When the General Assembly convenes this week, I hope my fellow Republicans will stand with Gov. Youngkin against a number of misguided bills and budget priorities passed by the legislature.

But I also urge members of my party to stand up for rural Virginia and override the governor’s regrettable veto of bipartisan legislation that would help communities across Virginia — and especially rural areas — repair and replace decrepit school buildings.

Republicans don’t need to set aside our conservative values to support this legislation. On the contrary, those values should impel them to do so.

My granddaughter opened my eyes to this issue. She’s a fourth-grader at Prince Edward County Elementary School, where leaking roofs and dilapidated buildings dishearten and distract teachers and students, all trying their best. The middle school her older sister attends also has urgent needs.

Leaders of both parties in Richmond recognize the importance of helping Virginia localities — especially in rural areas — repair and replace school buildings. But the $25 billion scale of the problem exceeds what the state can or will fix. This year, a strong bipartisan majority in the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 14, allowing a referendum in which local voters can decide for themselves whether to approve a modest sales tax increase that can only be used for schools. A limited number of Virginia localities have been allowed to use this tool over the years. Prince Edward and others have not been given that choice. 

Inadequate and dilapidated school buildings are a major impediment to the economic development that Republicans champion. They send a discouraging message to prospective businesses and families that might otherwise move to rural areas. This legislation will help rural communities repair schools faster. It puts taxing and spending choices in local hands. How can we be against that?

Republicans should be the party helping rural communities like Prince Edward. Our party provides most of the legislators who represent these areas and best understand their challenges. We also favor solutions from the people most affected over those imposed upon them from afar, be it Richmond or Washington, D.C. 

Gov. Youngkin admirably talks often about his concerns regarding out-migration from Virginia. But what about out-migration from rural Virginia? Prince Edward has a flat real estate tax base, and the greatest economic challenge is population decline. Its challenges — and toolbox of possible solutions — are not the same as NoVa’s. The people who live in Prince Edward best understand what their county needs to grow. Local officials have unanimously supported Prince Edward’s plan to make school facility investment a top priority. But Richmond is tying their hands. 

Republicans are also the party of lower taxes. Senate Bill 14 does not impose any taxes. To the contrary, if the governor’s veto stands, Prince Edward (and other counties in similar straits) will still face a bill for repairs that cannot wait. The only tool left will be an enormous increase in local real estate taxes. The county estimates they could go up 25%! Do Republicans really want to bear responsibility for that?

Another conservative value that has historically characterized Virginia Republicans is basic fairness. The General Assembly has already allowed nearly a dozen localities to hold sales tax referenda. Where they have passed, school buildings have already been built, and children are already using them. The teachers, students and taxpayers of Prince Edward are entitled to the same set of choices. 

We all hope Virginia will adopt a better system for funding school repairs statewide. But until then, the roof of my granddaughter’s school will not fix itself. She and her classmates cannot wait. It is simply unfair that the children of Prince Edward and other rural areas are denied a proven funding tool available in other parts of the Commonwealth.

Lastly, as a lifelong Republican, I believe our party has a special appreciation for history. 

It will be painfully ironic if — just weeks from the 70^th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision — Prince Edward County’s children are again disappointed and disadvantaged by Virginia’s state government.

The Brown case emerged from Prince Edward, spawned by teenager Barbara Johns’ brave protest over the deplorable conditions in her segregated public high school. The commonwealth (then dominated by the Democratic Party, incidentally) stood on the wrong side of history at almost every turn back then — against equal schools for Black students, against desegregation and for Massive Resistance, which caused incalculable and lasting damage to Prince Edward’s school system, and to both Black and white students when schools there were closed entirely for five years from 1959-64.

Prince Edward is not alone in its school facilities challenges, and it does not deserve special treatment. But surely Prince Edward’s history entitles its children to no less than the same tools and opportunities that are available elsewhere in Virginia. 

That’s why I hope that in this week’s veto session, Republicans will continue to support this legislation and the conservative values it embodies.

Robert Dean Pope is a retired lawyer and historian from Henrico County. His practice involved state and local government finance. Over the last 50 years he has participated in a number of campaigns and other Republican activities.