See below for an update from Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef, a local official showing strong leadership during this crisis. Nice work!
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Tonight the Prince William County School Board met with emergency protocols in place. We kept our social distancing as the members UNANIMOUSLY passed a historic budget that will fund many of our critical needs.
We did this after many hours of work sessions, citizen comments and staff preparation. This work has taken many months.
The world has changed dramatically, even since our last work session and the economy has drastically changed. The federal government is working on a trillion dollar relief package for the country. They are going to invest in the people to stabilize our economy.
We must do our part and invest in our community. In times of great uncertainty and economic distress our leaders have stepped up to invest in our citizens. That investment has ALWAYS had the greatest return on investment. Whether it was the New Deal, Tennessee Valley Authority, or the our collective sacrifices during WWII, we came together to solve enormous challenges.
Investing in our children, the leaders of tomorrow, will result in unimaginable dividends. This budget does exactly that by investing in the classroom directly, paying our teachers more, advancing pre-k initiatives, and adding social workers and counselors while also making the single largest investment increase in economically disadvantaged students.
Folks, now is the exact time to make those investments. I call on the Board of County Supervisors to fully fund our schools and commit to exactly why the voters elected us.
I recognize the economic challenge of this new environment and the new pressures we will be facing, but finding those resources is absolutely critical if we are to start recovering from this epic economic calamity.
I also call on the corporations who may be housing their data centers in Prince William County to look at opportunities to do their fair share and commit to our community and our schools. They must do this in a sustained way by working with our leaders to fairly pay for the services our community provides them.
Babur Lateef, MD
3/18/20
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