Referendum Fact Sheet Part1
The Last Minute Mailers Are In Your Mail Box- Are They True? OPINION
In the 34 years since I moved back to Hanover as an adult, I have never seen a more divisive and desperate political campaign to preserve nothing for the sake of nothing.
We live in an age of rapidly vanishing liberty- no one can deny this. We live in an age of passing off propaganda as education and of using education to indoctrinate. Here in Hanover, we have a bizarre attempt to smash liberty and preserve a method of seating a school board that has proven itself incapable of preserving and protecting education from the influence of the forces that control teacher’s unions and dumb down education elsewhere. It is all here.
The saddest thing about this is that our local Republican Unit has been kidnapped by elements who have shredded our mission and creed in pursuit of an incoherent crusade to kill the vote and accountability. The most vociferous of these people claim any who oppose them are “Democrats,” all the while contradicting Glen Youngkin’s and Donald Trump’s agenda to put parents on school boards.
Here are the pros and cons of both sides as best as I can see them. As I have said, I am not a member of either side. My decision to support elected school boards arises from my reasons- to avail myself of the First Amendment, and the highest expression of this inalienable right is voting, engaging in self-governance as much as possible, and doing my civic duty, remembering the cost of having the privilege. My position predating this cycle’s effort is well documented.
I will weigh what is pro or con by assessing the truth of the talking point. If the talking point is false, it goes into the con side so you won’t be conned!
NO Cons:
Taxing Authority- outright deception It is not possible under the State Constitution.
SOL Correlation with seating method- this is as scientific as gender dysphoria. Nothing supports this contention- no metric or mention in any other School System or State Education assessment.
The NO crowd cherrypicks Henrico, Chesterfield, Richmond City, Petersburg, and Hopewell. What they do not tell you is overall School Rankings
(Elementary) place Hanover well below some of these same schools:
Henrico at #8,#18,#24,#41,#56,#71,#83,#81,#135,#149, #192, #222, #291, #351, #384, #528, #561, #573, Chesterfield #27, #150,
Hanover #48,#102,#143, #188, #229, #239, #260, #278,
#419, #421, #494, #525, #586, #691, Richmond City #146, #535.
I see no point in going further back than 700 schools- Hanover shows up
behind hundreds of schools in systems that elect school boards- proving the claim of a correlation between test scores and a seating method, as claimed by the NO Side, is BS.
Hanover High Schools begin to show up at ranking #27- 26, with elected school boards ahead. The pattern is the same with high schools- there is no correlation between scores and the seating method of the school board. Two counties in Virginia appoint and about nine cities- all their SOL scores and rankings should exceed the systems that elect, but they don’t- there is no pattern, and the numbers are all over the place. This is simply a bald-faced lie.
The NAACP will have undue influence. They already have success here - the Lee Davis HS name change cost us a considerable sum. The GOP BOS had already collapsed under their weight like a yard sale card table.
Democrats will take over the Board. Republicans own 6 of 7 Supervisor seats. We are supposed to believe people who vote for Republican Supervisors will vote for Democrat board members.
Teachers Unions- Another boogieman, Where are they? What contributions did they make exactly?
Biological men in women’s bathrooms. - Transgender bathrooms are the status quo in Hanover already, and the BOS and their political appointees ok’d millions to build bathrooms in new schools to accommodate this agenda! If there are actual men and women in our schools, they are probably the ones who are writing the stuff for the NO campaign- held back for remediation.
Supporters of Pornography. It was ON THE APPOINTEES WATCH THAT THE PORN CAME IN!
I have read no positive talking point by the No Side that is not fear-based, speculative, subjective, or true. If you believe you have such a point, please send it to me, and I’ll post it.
Let’s look at the claims of the YES side.
5 Million voters just like you: The VDoE reports 6,107,832 registered voters. Given only two counties in Virginia bother with the political patronage appointees and nine cities, 5 million is likely conservative. There is nothing speculative or fear-based here.
Chosen by People Like You: Are these people just like you? I have no idea, but I have no reason to doubt it. Some are like some, and some like others. Everyone in the Republic and the Commonwealth gets to vote whether they are like us. That is what the First Amendment ensures. The No’fers have demonstrated they have no respect or understanding of the First Amendment.
School Board Elections Bring Transparency: This is speculative and perhaps naive, but they bring accountability. Hanover taxpayers gain the option of recall and the opportunity to vote members out who do not represent our values. All political boards, whether elected or not, have issues with transparency. Appointed boards do not have to account for those whose money the spend and whose children suffer the consequences of poor decisions.
MONEY! 48% of the County Budget is for education-related expenses. True. Speaks for itself.
You can look it up for yourself on the county website.
IMO, the NO campaign is about who gets to spend this money and who it is spent on. Keep it small; keep it all.
Nobody runs this poor a campaign with so many easily discredited distortions for positive reasons. I believe they are not interested in public education. The No campaign is in a panic to keep the status quo- control of 230+ million dollars. If this were about kids, these people would have been calling out the appointee’s record long ago, but they couldn’t be bothered. Their whip has her children in a private academy. Many on the side of NO have criticized the curriculum on social media as liberal for years and complained about the teaching to the test. They now talk out of the other side of their collective face because the means justify the end. This whole campaign relies on spin, and they are afraid to debate the points in a public forum.
Are you voting NO?
Can you say you have a reason that isn’t hyped, speculative and fear-based? Can you point to something positive and objective? What is it?
Are you voting YES?
You have the First Amendment on your side. You have the principle of smaller government and citizen participation on your side. You have the consent of the governed on your side. You have civic duty on your side. You have choice on your side. You have Glen Youngkin and RPV on your side. You have Donald Trump on your side.
Are there Democrats on the YES side?
Of course. Democrats vote on every issue on the ballot- they even voted in our Republican Firehouse Primary. Some will likely vote NO because they work in the contracting business that benefits from the millions spent yearly. Money talks louder than Parties in Hanover- it always has.
Whatever motivation people hold on either side doesn’t change the nature of inalienable, and a right abdicated in this day and age is a right lost. Who can claim to be a good citizen and walk away from voting at this time when governments are spending out of control, infringing on liberty, going Woke, and so much more?
Five & Dime VA/HCC is an opinion blog employing satire, commentary, and facts to entertain and convey my opinions on religious, cultural, and political issues.
I expect you to know the difference.
Republican Candidate calls for Democrats to vote in Primary- Hanover Republican Party says nothing- http://www.hanoverconservativecaucus.com/2022/04/schaeffer-spins-firehouse-primary.html
Former Delegate Chris Peace (R) holds his own Firehouse Primary and invites anyone with a pulse- Democrats show up: http://www.hanoverconservativecaucus.com/2019/06/local-units-revolt-wont-smoke-peace-pipe.html?q=firehouse
