SINCE entering the Virginia House of Delegates in 2002, Rob Bell, (R) who represents all of Greene and parts of Albemarle, Fluvanna and Orange Counties, has consistently prioritized tax cuts at the expense of the University and our community. In 2004, Bell fought the tax reform package that eventually restored millions of dollars of University funding and nearly closed the base adequacy funding gap. During the last session, Bell championed "charter" legislation that could have sent tuition soaring to "market rates" while cutting employee pay and benefits. Bell's priorities represent a danger to the University, and we are fortunate to have Democrat Steve Koleszar challenging Bell this fall.
According to his campaign literature, Koleszar decided to run for delegate primarily because Bell is undermining public education in adherence to an anti-tax ideology. Through his service on the Albemarle County School Board, Koleszar understands the necessity of adequate funding for public schools.He is committed to improving the Virginia public school system, which is impossible without the necessary funding.
Therefore, Koleszar supports a more progressive tax system that will increase investment in public schools while shifting the tax burden from the working poor to the rich. Koleszar supports making the income tax in particular more progressive, whereas Bell wants to eliminate the inheritance tax, which is a tax on wealth and not work. Moreover, in the face of Republican assaults on the public school system, Koleszar will maintain the public nature and accessibility of our public schools. "There's a whole movement to privatize education in this country," Koleszar told me, and the only way to remedy rather than exacerbate existing inequalities is with active government action to equalize funding and ensure the money is spent effectively.
Koleszar is as committed to higher education as to primary and secondary. He will fight to finally close the base adequacy funding gap while opposing privatization schemes such as the "charter" initiative. In an interview, Koleszar told me that he would fight attempts to set public tuition at "market" rates. "We have to have a system where education is accessible by all. I don't trust charity to do it. If you just rely on charity you're going to waste a lot of talent."
Of equal importance is Koleszar's support for University classified staff, such as cleaning and maintenance staff, whose wages and benefits would have evaporated had Bell been successful in his advocacy of charter. "The one thing I'm most concerned about is the classified staff at U.Va.," Koleszar told me. The divergent views of Koleszar and Bell on whether or not to maintain and improve our system of public higher education reveals deep philosophical differences regarding the role of government.
While Bell hasn't supported building our public institutions, evidenced through his failure to support the Warner/Chichester tax reform, Koleszar believes that government can be a powerful tool for the common good. He cited New Orleans as an example of how the failure to invest in our infrastructure, created a situation where the disaster was inevitable. By investing 20 to 30 billion dollars to protect the environment and build stronger levies we would have saved hundreds of lives and 200 to 300 billion dollars. "The assault of government is an assault on the common good, because we're investing in ourselves and we're investing in improving peoples' lives," said Koleszar.
Though committed to an activist government in the public sphere, Koleszar understands that government should not intrude in citizens' private lives, saying "Government has certain jobs its supposed to do.It should do those well and stay out of our private lives." Thus Koleszar supports access to civil unions for everyone, and opposes infringement on the church's ability to marry. "We're supposed to have freedom of religion in this country," he said, which implies that the government should not intrude on the church in order to achieve bigoted public policy goals. In contrast, Bell does not recognize the sanctity of our private lives and decisions.
Fundamentally, Koleszar has a positive vision for Virginia, one in which we can "build schools not jails," in which public higher education is accessible rather than privatized, and in which we can live our private lives without state intrusion. This stands in stark contrast to Bell's vision of a state which has liquidated our public goods and uses its resources to investigate and restrict our private behavior.
Zack Fields' column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at zfields@cavalierdaily.com.
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