RPS PRESCHOOLER BRINGS LOADED GUN TO SCHOOL - A DIGEST OF RECENT HAPPENINGS

So much is happening so fast that I'm resorting to a "digest" format. 

Here's what's on tap:

1) City Council final budget meeting: Monday, May 13, 2024

2) Guns in our community impact our schools

3) Teacher Appreciation Week Highlights

4) 4th DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES

5) Laughs

***

1) MOST IMPORTANT CITY COUNCIL MEETING ON MONDAY, MAY 13, 2024 

The most important Richmond City Council meeting of the year is this coming Monday, May 13, at 6 p.m. 

This is the meeting where the City Council will finalize the budget for Richmond - and Richmond Public Schools - for next school year.

RPS asked for 16 million dollars for major repairs and remediation, such as new roofs, but Mayor Levar Stoney only allocated 2.5 million. 

Luckily through the intentional, targeted advocacy of the REA, a City Council rep is proposing an amendment to the Mayor's budget, restoring the 16 million dollars we need to improve the health and safety in our schools. But it is by no means guaranteed that this amendment will pass.

It is critical that City Council understands that RPS workers are serious about demanding the schools our students deserve.

Please turn out and WEAR RED ("Red for Ed") to demand that City Council fully fund the RPS budget, particularly the budget for repairs (the "CIP budget").

900 East Broad Street

Richmond, VA 23219

Parking can be tricky. I have found that if I arrive by 5:30 p.m., I can find on the street parking right in front of City Hall on 9th street. You might want to carpool, or share a short Uber ride from a nearby grocery store parking lot.

If you can't make it, please email a City Council member to demand a fully funded RPS budget.

It is clear that without getting loud, there would have been no action from RPS - no mold inspections and no shifting budget priorities to address RPS educators' workplace conditions.

REA will be street canvasing this weekend to organize our community in advance of this meeting.

2) RPS PRESCHOOLER BRINGS A GUN TO SCHOOL

I have feelers out to community anti-gun violence activists and teachers for reactions.

Parents react HERE.

This was reminiscent of the shocking shooting in a Newport News elementary school in January 2023.

We can never allow this to become normalized.

3) TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK HIGHLIGHTS:

- RPS throws a party. Teachers reactions range from muted to "try harder." 

- Some workers were surprised that no school board members attended the retirement recognition. 

- I wrote a salty take on it HERE.

- RPS pretends there is no collective bargaining agreement; REA exposes multiple violations of the CBA.

(Disclosure: I am a member of the Board of the REA)

Multiple REA members went to the School Board meeting on Monday (5/6) to inform the school board of the multiple collective bargaining violations that RPS has racked up.

The news coverage was nil. 

- Nothing from CBS, ABC, or NBC local broadcast news, nor from VPM or the Times-Dispatch. RTD, having deleted their education reporter, seems to merely regurgitate press releases from RPS’s PR department.

- RVA Dirt characterized teachers requesting that the legal agreement struck between the REA and RPS be adhered to as dominating the public comment. Next they'll be calling us "aggressive." $500 says their descriptions of the union escalate in vitriol as we continue to build worker power and establish even stronger connections with community groups who want to bring to fruition the schools our students deserve.

They are trying to depict the REA's goals and the community's goals as being in opposition to one another. They might not realize that most of our community is comprised of....workers.

RVA Dirt's take on the public comments underscored employers' rights. We'll see how well that flies in Richmond, one of the incubators of the modern labor rights movement.

4) 4th DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES

Word on the street is there are fourteen!

My FOIA request came through. CLICK THROUGH LATER TODAY for the full list of candidates for the appointment to the 4th District School Board seat vacated by Jonathan Young.

At Monday's School Board Meeting, we learned that the candidate interviews will be on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.

I am not sure if that meeting will be open to the public. I would like to know what questions the school board asks and of course, the answers given by candidates.

I'll be meeting with Derek Redwine on Thursday and having coffee with Garrett Sawyer on Saturday. Meeting with all 14 candidates will be a stretch, but not impossible before the November election.

5) LAUGH - THE MET GALA, TEACHER'S EDITION

Enjoy the last days of Tik Tok while you can still Tik tok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@schooledbyarturo/video/7365969109600734510

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