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Of course Rappahannock can t compete with the salaries and benefits offered by Fairfax, Arlington, Henrico and other urban communities. But the county should be in a position to vie with Madison, Greene, Orange and the rest of our neighboring counties in attracting top flight teachers who want to work in rural areas. What orchardist would watch his entire fruit crop destroyed by blight just because he didn’t want to spend the extra money to spray? He’d find the dollars necessary to protect his investment, as would any good business man.
It’s the same with the school business. Rappahannock has spent the biggest percentage of its school budget for teacher salaries. Men and women, interested in educating youngsters, have been trained here, have gained experience and have learned to fit into the county’s program. They’ve become valuable employees and if it takes spending a little more money to keep our current crop of teachers happy, then if it’s possible, we should do so.
The alternative is to watch Rappahannock’s experienced teachers move on to jobs elsewhere while the school system struggles to replace them.
No one wants to see county landowners taxed off their property. But of the five counties in Planning District Nine, Rappahannock has by far the lowest real property tax. Everyone could afford to pay a few dollars more.
Then maybe the county won’t rank at the bottom in the District in per capita expenditures for education and at the top in teacher turn-over rate.
84.0%