Letter to the Editor: Come election day, we remember schools votes

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Letter to the Editor: Come election day, we remember schools votes
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To the editor:

Forgive me, but I am confused at Mayor Allison Silberberg’s comments in the Alexandria Times article, “Allison Silberberg prepares to launch reelection bid” printed on Feb. 8. The article states she is particularly proud of increasing the city’s budget for the schools last year.

I seem to remember that she voted against the tax increase that would provide additional resources to Alexandria City Public Schools. Am I remembering wrong? The Alexandria Times reported on May 5, 2017 that “Mayor Allison Silberberg cast the lone dissenting vote” regarding the historic vote. Weird, seems like she is trying to rewrite history. The problem with that is, Alexandrians remember.

We remember that our 4th and 5th graders are having to sit in class in their winter coats because the heaters are broken at James K. Polk Elementary School or our middle schoolers at George Washington Middle School are out of school for a week because the pipes burst due to aging infrastructure. We remember that our kids do not have an art classroom, rather an “Art Cart,” because our schools are overcrowded and the administrators needed to make the art classroom a general classroom.

We remember that enrollment at the elementary schools has gone up 52 percent in the last 10 years with no significant increases in revenue. We remember that the city council allocates the lowest level for funding towards its schools compared to all the other Northern Virginia areas. We remember everything on election day.

-Katy Matthews, Alexandria

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