How well do YOU know the Richmond educational system, and those contentious debates and power struggles surrounding recent current events related to the school districts of our city?
Yes, I’m talking to you.
Well, then, you won’t mind taking the following “EZ 2 Love Those Schools” quiz in order to find out the depth of YOUR knowledge of such things as administrative costs, per-pupil ratios, truancy rates and procurement audits. Right? (Thanks to River City Rapids for the inspiration and the thorough coverage, and to our fave-rave city gadfly Paul Goldman for suggesting question #6)
C’mon and get schooled! When you are done, make sure to turn the quiz in to your School Board representative and get them to check your work:
1. Mayor L. Douglas Wilder and the Richmond School Board are:
A.) Fighting over the closing of old schools
B.) Fighting over the building of new schools
C.) Fighting over the efficiency of the Richmond school system
D.) Fighting over a new audit of the school system
E.) Fighting over the scope of a new audit of the school system
F.) Fighting over who would perform a new audit of the school system
G.) Fighting over the Mayor withholding funds from the school system until an expansive audit is done
H.) Fighting.
2. Richmond’s public school system…
A.) Ranks highest in the total dollars spent by a Virginia school system in seven out of 10 categories.
B.) Keeps its money in a non-interest bearing account (when it could earn $130,000 annually).
C.) Spends $36 million more per year, with fewer schools and students to educate, than it did in 1995.
D.) Can boast of 47% of its 9th graders making it through to graduation
E.) All of the above
3. As a leader, L. Douglas Wilder can be compared to:
A.) A man who asks questions first, shoots later.
B.) Adlai Stevenson.
C.) A wily pol who knows how to gently seduce the tree to get the desired apple.
D.) Sheriff Buford T. Justice, as portrayed by Jackie Gleason, in the opening scenes of Smokey in the Bandit, where he approaches two car thieves with a warm smile before kicking one of them in the nuts and stating, “Now, that was an attention getter!”
E.) D. I’m going to go with D.
4. In February, a city auditor…
A.) Identified nearly $20 million in annual wasteful spending from Richmond Public Schools.
B.) Found that the school system is guilty of bad record keeping and overstaffing in clerical positions.
C.) Found that Richmond school buses operated without students 40 percent of the time.
D.) Could not look into the $76 million in school procurement contracts because the school administration would not give access to those particular records.
E.) Was hesitant to identify exactly who denied him access to procurement records so he could do a complete audit of schools.
F.) Was sitting next to the School superintendent Deborah Jewell-Sherman at the press conference where he explained his audit of schools.
G.) All of the above.
5. Name one quote that was NOT given by a recent school board chairman or vice-chairman:
A.) “This Board has never shied away from any audit, any look, and any help that wants to come down the road. I don’t think we are deviating from that now.”
B.) “Legally, we have the right to decide whether or not we are audited.”
C.) “Our job is not to constantly answer audits and deal with detractors.”
D.) “I could kill Doug Wilder.”
E.) They were all given.
6. A letter ran in today’s Times-Dispatch editorial section signed by “Jim Edmonson,” accusing School board chairman George Braxton of ethics violations. Curiously, the writer’s relationship to Mr. Braxton was not identified, as is normal custom when a critical letter of this kind is written to a newspaper by someone with a vested interest in the subject at hand. In fact, Mr. Edmonson…
A.) Prefers to remain anonymous so that he can fight crime at night as “Letter Writing Man.”
B.) Has the same name as the guy who ran against George Braxton for a school board seat in 2004.
C.) “Knows this city inside out,” said the old prospector, spitting out a hunk of chaw.
D.) Is Mr. Braxton’s disgruntled ex-valet/drinking buddy, looking to write a juicy and provocative tell-all.
7. Critics of Richmond Public Schools point to many examples of needless waste and inefficiency. For example, in 2003, Richmond Public Schools paid late fees on utility bills on a regular basis, including delinquent gas payments made out to the City Public Utilities Department for a total of $3,389.47. At the time, the City Public Utilities Department was:
A.) Willing to let our poor children freeze in the classrooms over a bit of coin.
B.) A bunch of jerks about it. I mean, they couldn’t wait until Friday?
C.) $3,389.47 richer.
D.) In the same building as the Richmond schools administration!!!!!
8. Which schools plan has the mayor NOT proposed under his “City of the Future” initiative:
A.) To spend $169 million on 15 new or renovated schools.
B.) To spend $169 million on two new specialty high school campuses
C.) To spend $169 million buying lottery tickets, because (the logic goes) if you buy that many, you are a cinch to win.
9. When the mayor threatened to withhold $1.8 million in payroll funds from schools…
A.) The school board announced a bake sale and rock concert with a “No Thanks Wilder” theme, and it was not only a whopping financial success but served as the basis for a rad TV movie on the Disney channel starring Hillary Duff.
B.) The school board agreed to a complete audit, including procurement, and got to work closing old schools, because they could recognize the mayor’s determination on this.
C.) The school board had a good cry.
D.) The school board sued him, lost, and are currently contemplating a costly appeal.
10. What’s the most obvious thing that a city official has said in the wake of this battle over schools, or in his whole entire life:
A.) “We really need to get these people together so that we can get these things ironed out.” — City Councilman Douglas G. Conner Jr.
11. What’s the scariest thing about this heated battle over renovating, building, auditing and funding Richmond schools?
A.) The lasting effects of bureaucracy and political backbiting on the education of our children.
B.) The fact that the people in charge still can’t seem to get it together.
C.) The fact that a lot of tax money continues to get wasted.
D.) The fact that lawyers have been called in.
E.) The fact that city council has been called in.
F.) All of the freakin’ above
Answers:
1. H., 2. E, 3. D, 4. G, 5. E, 6. B, 7. D, 8. C, 9. D. 10. A, 11. F