Where City Council Candidates Stand on Education, Charlottesville Public Schools
Check out the full survey responses HERE.
How do you think CCS is doing when it comes to delivering educational results to the City’s children? As a City Councilor, what would you advocate be CCS’s top 1-2 priorities?
Natalie Oschrin: I am a proud Charlottesville City Schools graduate (CHOS '07) and will offer strong support to CCS as a councilor. The delineation along racial and socioeconomic lines that existed when I attended CCS continues to exist, though now there is a better and more open understanding of why, and efforts are being made to address that inequity. The overdue end to bussing from Westhaven and reckoning with the stratification and stigma of the Quest "gifted program" are good steps in the right direction. Involvement in the fine arts programs and AP-level classes that made CHS such a fantastic school for many should be more achievable for more students. City Council and the School Board need to continue investment in supporting students well-being, mental health, and teacher pay increases. The school systems are still recovering from the disruption of the pandemic, and the after-effects will be felt for years. City Council can encourage the new superintendent's work at ensuring students have access to the resources they need to be successful.
How do you see City Council’s role in ensuring that ALL students in the city are afforded a free, high quality, public education that meets their needs? Please include your thoughts about funding for an early education center at the Walker site, once the middle school re-configuration is complete.
Natalie Oschrin: City Council oversees the budget, and has to balance the needs of various aspects of the community, both in the short and long-term. An early childhood education center provides both short and long term benefits, child-care and education, and a better success rate later for students. The community is a system, and there are also other short and long-term needs to improve educational outcomes, especially in ensuring safe and reliable housing for families. Council has to do both things to prioritize achievement for all students, and make strides in providing for those who have been historically under-resourced. I will collaborate with the superintendent and school board to ensure schools are well funded, and the aging school buildings are given the investments they need to modernize.
Together with CCS, the City is working toward a solution that ensures ALL students have a safe way to and from school. Please describe the role that you see City Council taking to ensure the resources needed to implement solutions for the current transportation challenges?
Natalie Oschrin: Safe streets are a significant part of my platform. This requires investment and collaboration from the City and state transportation department to build sidewalks and roads that are safe AND pleasant, so using them as a biker or walker is an attractive option, especially for kids and families. Becoming less car-centric is a big cultural shift, a long-term goal that hopefully we can achieve in the short term. Expanded walk-to-school zones, public awareness campaigns, better signage, and protected paths for walkers and bikers are all needed and worthy. Council recently approved speed cameras near Buford to help walkers and crossing guards, however if the car is already speeding, the ticket is reaction more than prevention. We need traffic calming as well, so the car has less of a chance of driving dangerously in the first place. I live a few houses away from the intersection of High St and Hazel, a famously unsafe point on the way for many walking to Burnley-Moran. Simple, inexpensive fixes like speed humps and planters would make it safer, and ultimately, a continuous sidewalk along High Street is incredibly overdue. I am motivated to address intersections and biking/walking routes all over town like this to give kids the freedom to safely get to school.
Safety is a growing issue in our community that is impacting students both in and out of school. How do you envision City Council working with Charlottesville City Schools to address the safety concerns of youth and families in our community, as well as the needs of students that stem from those safety concerns?
Natalie Oschrin: I support the commitment to alternative ways of managing safety within the schools and keeping schools gun-free zones. The federal and grant funding for mental health resources, alternative education, and the staff dedicated to these programs has been valuable, and the city needs to continue to find ways to keep that funding supply going. Infrastructure investment includes student well-being and enrichment activities like sports, arts, and clubs. Outside of the school system, City Council must also invest in addressing the underlying causes of instability, like housing and food insecurity, that affect the safety and success of students and their families. Our students deserve a safe space and a safety net.
Charlottesville United for Public Education believes in the power of family voice - especially those voices that have not been traditionally centered - in collaboration with schools and educators. How might Council better listen to the voices of our community as partners in creating solutions to our challenges?
Natalie Oschrin: Council needs to be conscious of those people and voices that have not been traditionally centered, to be aware of who is doing the talking and whose voices ARE being heard. There will be an participation bias due to time constraints, language barriers, and transportation challenges. So efforts must be made to reduce those barriers to entry as much as possible (virtual meetings, translators, etc), and be aware of who might still be missing and why. Consistent policies and practice of outreach and community building are necessary to find those folks and give them opportunities for input to ensure representation and openness to ideas.
If you could list your top 5 priorities, where does public K-12 education rank if at all?
Natalie Oschrin: A community is a system, and education is both a foundation of, and subject to, the other elements of that system. Safe streets, collective bargaining, and affordable housing are parts of a solid education system. Kids needs to STAY in the schools, it is detrimental to discipline and achievement if their families face housing insecurity, if they have to move between schools frequently, or have unsafe, crowded housing, or housing that is too expensive. The housing crisis also makes it harder for teachers to live in the neighborhoods where they work and contributes to overall inequity. Better housing options, better transportation options, and better education are all linked, and I'm pushing to improve them together.