As an elected official of Roanoke County, I wanted to express my disagreement with the proposal offered by gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello on providing tax payer subsidized free education at government community schools.
First of all, Mr. Perriello calls it “FREE education.” When will those running for office stop deceiving the public by labeling government programs as free? The last time I checked the professors were NOT offering their teaching services for free, the utility bills need to be paid, and someone needs to pay for the massive building projects. This “someone” is the hardworking taxpayer. This scheme of Mr. Periello is to have taxpayers increase their subsidizing of government education.
The reason I am providing my input as a local County Supervisor is that as I mention so often every issue is a LOCAL ISSUE. Someone will need to pay for this new program and the citizens I represent in Roanoke County will be those helping to foot the bill. The taxpayer in Roanoke County is already overburdened — it is time for LESS government programs and more innovative approaches to education that remove government (tax payer funding) and provides higher quality education at a lower costs.
I would fully support a debate that allowed citizens to use tax credits to choose the K-12 or higher education institution of their choice. It is time to move away from antiquated systems that only provide incentives to use government educational systems.
Citizens are demanding school choice at all levels of education.
Al Bedrosian
Roanoke County Supervisor – Hollins District
