Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 15 · column 5 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
Bomber ger
Continued from page 1 in the middle. It’s the very poor who need the schools to help pull them up. . .and that’s not happening,” he said.
“I can understand the farmers who don’t want their land overtaxed, but if land is the only source of revenue for tne county, then we must work to change the formula that says this county is really rich,” Mr. Bomberger asserted. “And that hasn’t happened either,” he added, noting that county officials have not worked to change the state’s educational funding formula. (The formula which determines a county’s relative wealth and ability to pay for education gives primary weight to land values and lesser weight to personal income and sales tax revenue.)
Mr. Bomberger recalled his first years at the high school as “really rough," remembering in particular a rowdy eighth grade math class. “I was fresh out of college. I didn’t know how to discipline kids. I’m positive I improved greatly over the years,” he said, pointing out that improvement comes with experience for most teachers. And experienced teachers are the ones that Rappahannock all too often loses because salaries here are not competitive, Mr. Bomberger added.
While the picture with salaries remains bleak, the veteran teacher sees other hopeful signs in the county’s educational system. Students are staying in school longer than they did 13 years ago. Second graders have improved dramatically in reading skills. Computers have been introduced and their use expanded at both the elementary school and the high school. Attitudes towards the arts have improved. “And there are plans for improvements in the physical plant at the high school. That’s a step in the right direction,” Mr. Bomberger said. “I’m hopeful that it will not get derailed. It’s definitely something that’s really needed.”
The departing teacher acknowledged the support he received over the years from the administrators at the high school. “I really appreciate what they did to try to keep me in the classroom,” he said. “But I felt I was not supported by the central office administration in work to improve salaries,” the former RCEA officer added.
In his 13 years in the public schools, Mr. Bomberger clashed— very politely—with the School Board on occasion. However, he sees the members now on that board as the best yet for Rappahannock. “I see a big improvement in the School Board itself, but it’s going to take more than just the School Board to upgrade the salary scale so that Rappahannock schools won’t become a training ground for new teachers. It’s going to take the supervisors, and it will take a push from a community that knows the facts,” he concluded.
91.3%