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Is anyone other than the politicians surprised?

The question is – would you support an Adequate Public Facility ordinance?

Aaron Richardson at the Daily Progress reports:

Some Albemarle County schools could exceed their capacity sooner than expected, thanks to rapid growth.

Supervisor Ken Boyd curiously chooses the word “adequately” when referring to funding* -

“We’re committed to providing adequate educational opportunities in this county, but we’re going to have to look at what other capital improvement projects we have going on,” Boyd said. “We’d have to take a more holistic view than, ‘Gee, have we got $46 million more to spend on education?’”

“Curious” because either:

1 – He thinks the County should offer merely “adequate” education rather than “world class”.*

2 – He’s laying the groundwork for a conversation about adequate public facilities (which tend to be opposed by Realtors) , the long-debated ordinance that would essentially prevent new homes’ construction before adequate infrastructure/fire & rescue/school/etc was in place.

Better schools increase house prices.

At some point, the politicians and the people need to understand that our population is growing, and they need to plan accordingly.

What is an adequate public facilities ordinance? I found the following definition in 2005:

An Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) is a law adopted by the local government that allows it to defer the approval of developments based upon a finding by the governing body that public facilities would not be not adequate to support the proposed development at build out.

What are the components of an effective APF ordinance?
• Identifies the types of public facilities to be considered.
• Limits the period of time during which the deferral on development imposed by an APFO can be in force.
• Requires the locality to have in place a capital facilities plan to remedy the infrastructure inadequacy that has been the basis for the development deferral.

Rather than re-think my unchanged opinion, I’ll just re-publish it:

What we need is healthy balance between the two positions. Anti-growth NIMBYS and conservationists who oppose all growth, either openly or surreptitiously do their position a disservice by taking an extreme position, as do those who are typically portrayed as pro-growth.

Pro-growth, (how about “wise-growth”?) yet still with the understanding that we are going to remain in and live in this area is a good position. Make wise growth relatively simple and easy to accomplish and do not infringe on the private property rights of landowners. The “common-good” argument usually comes with the implicit understanding that the “haves” are going to ultimately lose out to the “have-nots.” This is an untenable position.

Whew.

One would think that some of these people are kids, thereby necessitating new public facilities, right? (and the 2010 Census says the Albemarle County population under 18 is 10,774)

Related: Growth, Roads and APFs

* it may be semantics, but I’d rather Albemarle County Schools aim to “provide a world-class education” rather than “achieve recognition as a world-class education system.” Do it first, and recognition is secondary.

** Every time I write a story referencing a Daily Progress story written before the first quarter of 2008 I’m reminded that they deleted all of their archives.

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ProPublica has released/aggregated a lot of information on Central Virginia schools.

Oddly, neither Greene County nor Nelson County are listed.

- Charlottesville City Schools

- Albemarle County Schools

- Fluvanna County Schools

- Louisa County Schools

Further, if you have something to add to their data, there’s a “share your insights and analysis” page.

What a useful time to remind folks to check your school district before you buy . Redistricting happens. And school districts matter.

Also, Great Schools is a useful resource, but nothing can replace talking to parents and visiting schools.

Schools: keep in mind that you (should be) are competing and that the education quality you offer matters. On every level. (don’t cheat)

(h/t cvillenews)

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And it’s a bit of a rant.

Let’s start with this:

@paulawhite @Eduflack What a stupid proposal. How about we teach responsibility and the importance of good decisions? The stupidity hurts.

Rather than seeking to educate people – kids, teachers, parents – about the potential dangers of inappropriate student/teacher interaction, the Virginia Board of Education is seeking to prevent all non-official digital communication:

Model policy for electronic communications with students
• Teachers and other school board employees must restrict electronic communications with students to accounts, systems and platforms provided by the school division.
• Teachers and other employees may not use personal wireless communications devices to “text” students and are prohibited from interacting with students through online social-networking sites. Teachers and other school board employees must decline or disregard invitations from students to interact through texting and social-networking sites.
• Teachers and other school board employees may not knowingly engage in online gaming with students.
• School board policy on electronic communications with students also applies to teachers and other employees of virtual school programs and other vendors providing instructional services to students.

There is a generational shift in the way people communicate.

What about teachers’ home phones? What about communicating on snow days? What about common sense? Restrict communication to only within the walls of school? You’re going to ban Twitter? Really?

So, bans/prohibitions/rules against sexual misconduct between students and teachers is not sufficient; we** must ban communication methods as well? This isn’t solely about banning behavior, it’s about banning communication. Texting is how kids communicate. Period. If teachers can communicate more effectively with them that way, so be it.

Teach responsibility. Teach common sense. Teach the importance of good decisions. Teach. Don’t ban.

Newsflash: Social media is here to stay. So is texting. So is facebook. Embrace and educate. Taking the easy road sets the wrong example.

One place you can comment on this proposal is here.

Eduflack sums this up well:

Used correctly, texting (and to a lesser degree, social media) can be a powerful instructional tool. We should be looking at ways to maximize the resources available and better engage students in their preferable mediums. Virginia, there has to be another way to protect teachers and students, share information, and offer a more transparent communication than shutting down that which is new.

You’re educators. Educate. Yourselves and your students.

- Officers say there are plenty of reasons to keep squads moving. “It’s actually putting officers out there on the streets so we can make the people of Albemarle feel more safe,” said Albemarle County Sgt. Darrell Byers.

- “When the principals conduct their investigations, what typically is fleshed out is the true intent,” he told the paper. “Bottom line is: We want to ensure every child feels safe on our campus.”

Given the choice between having my clients feel like they are making good decisions, and having them actually make good decisions based on facts, analysis and common sense, I will choose common sense 8 days a week. I’d like to apply the same common sense in the education world.

* Ignorant – definition #1 not stupid.

** This is a situation of “we” – if we don’t seek to influence our politicians, we are to blame.

Update: The Newsplex has a story today about this.

UPDATE 29 August 2011: In a related ruling on a similarly stupid law, the Missouri Supreme Court has blocked a law against private messages between teachers and kids.

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Consolidating to have one middle school would also allow the division to combine its administrative offices and stop leasing city buildings for certain programs.

The city has six elementaries, one upper elementary school, one middle school and one high school. Preschool programs are located at the six elementary schools, but having one middle school will necessitate that preschoolers move into one location to have enough space for the fifth-graders.

Surely the irony was not lost on the author of the DP article when they put this quote in:

“Where will the funding come from?” asked parent Kathryn Buzzoni, a Fluvanna County resident who has a kindergartener at Venable Elementary and was concerned that those costs could result in a cutback in other services.

I’m sure there are blogs in Charlottesville discussing this from the parents’ point of view, but I haven’t been able to locate them. Yet.

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Greene County Public School’s student population has grown by nearly 2% in 2010-2011. That is the second highest enrollment increase by percentage in our region. Harrisonburg City grew by an astounding 4.59%, but we outpaced Albemarle, Charlottesville, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Fluvanna, Rockingham, Staunton, and Nelson.

Interesting. I suppose that quite a bit of that growth can be attributed to NGIC/DIA as well as the fact that now that Greene has a Lowe’s and Super Wal-Mart people are more inclined to stay in Greene rather than always have to go to Charlottesville.

Also, I’d bet that that Hollymead Town Center – Harris Teeter and Target – derives a fair amount of their traffic from southern Greene County. (Preddy Creek neighborhood, for example)

The above post (and the subsequent comment) tracks with this comment in September here on RealCentralVA:

What the NGIC/DIA folks also need to consider is coming 10 minutes north to Madison County. Our schools have a 5 star accredation (sic) and the area is VERY safe and secure without the over development issue. If you want a small farm to keep a pony for the kids or a nice vegetable garden, going north may be the answer. The commute will still be shorter time wise than doing the Albemarle thing.

If you’re curious, you can search for homes for sale in Greene County. Search by Elementary School if you’d like.

Check out the Google Place Pages:

Ruckersville Elementary School

Nathanael Greene Elementary School

Greene County Primary School

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I hope the Public Schools realize that they are competing – that when my clients come to town, they are evaluating which school districts are best, which ones fit best, and which ones will likely best help their future houses hold value and hopefully appreciate. When my clients come to the area, whether Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Nelson or Fluvanna, they ask about the schools. Those with kids, those without kids, those with kids on the way, those who never will have kids. They ask for one reason:

School quality, desirability and marketability impact home prices. You could show me thirty studies with hard empirical data, sourced and peer-reviewed by 73 Nobel Laureates saying that home prices are not affected by schools; and they would all be wrong.

Public Schools matter to house prices. Why else would this Realtor in Chicago map schools by high school test ranking?

Or more a more definitive statement:

Local school quality is the deciding factor for nearly a quarter of the people shopping for homes. You probably already know that homes near good schools are worth more, but you might not realize that they hold their value better, too.

Further:

It has been found that attendance areas with higher school ratings have higher property values, all else constant.

Searching by school districts in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene and all of Central Virginia was one of the primary reasons I implemented my “search for homes“ feature in 2008.

Which leads us to …

… this email last week from the Albemarle CASE group:

Please spread the word about CASE. Citizens of Albemarle Supporting Education is a citizens’ network dedicated to improving accountability and performance in Albemarle County Public Schools. This group was founded to educate the Albemarle community about the 4×4 schedule and semesterization using peer reviewed research. C.A.S.E. seeks to increase transparency and to improve community involvement in local educational policy.

Visit www.albemarlecase.com and sign our petition to save our schools and our house prices!

I have talked to quite a few parents and high schoolers about their perceptions and reactions to the block scheduling, and thought it would be useful to ask the opinion of Champion Tutoring for their perspective, and I received this gracious response:

Thanks for asking.  It’s been a really interesting year, actually.  This is my third year at Champion, and our 16th year in business.  My first two fall seasons echoed earlier trends, basically a huge rush in late August–parents calling in to reserve spots for students who knew they’d need regular 1 on 1 assistance in a core subject.  So we’d see a boom around early September, and I could barely catch my breath until mid October.

I had expected the new 4×4 to kick this into high gear.  We armed ourselves for the floodgates, basically (I’m mixing metaphors, I know).  However, interestingly, we didn’t get that in August/September.  It’s now, rather than September, when we’re starting to see an increase.

If I had to guess, I’d say parents/students didn’t know what to expect w/ the 4×4?  So they were waiting to see, and now that things are moving at a really fast pace, they’re seeking the 1 on 1 assistance?  I would be really interested in hearing your thoughts, as a parent in the thick of the 4×4.  We really want to do our best to serve our population’s needs–many of our teachers have many years of classroom experience and would love an opportunity to know more specifics about how to help.

I have been asked before to comment on the block schedule “from a Realtor’s perspective” and here is my comment:

From my point of view, the teachers are overworked and not able to teach effectively. The students are overworked and not learning as effectively as they could or should and are not given the attention that they need. From our personal experience, we are extremely reluctant to miss a day of school, as there is very little chance of ever recapturing what was taught on that day – there is too much information and too little time at school.

The media tends to pile on to a story, but there seems to be little defense being put forth from Albemarle County Schools, although I know they are trying their absolute best.

Crozet Gazette – Parents Revolt Against WAHS (Western Albemarle High School) 4×4 Schedule

Carmen Garcia, the mother of one student at Western and two at Henley (where she serves as PTO vice president), said she called former School Board member Brian Wheeler about the schedule policy change last spring. “My intuition said this doesn’t sound right. Wheeler said that this is what the experts were telling them to do, but he couldn’t explain it. He said there wasn’t going to be a vote. Then they rushed adoption without a public hearing. I read about it in the paper the next morning. It made me mad. Once school started and reality hit, we had to organize. Many parents tell me they are angry about the policy but feel powerless to change it.”

School administrators argued the schedule shift would save $800,000 by allowing 13 teachers to be cut without adding to class sizes. The 4×4 compresses classes that are traditionally yearlong into one semester. It was a speed-up-the-line move on some teachers who now have to teach six classes a year for their pay rather than five. Some teachers at Western Albemarle, admitting to feeling miserable but helpless, said they wouldn’t sign the CASE petition out of fear of reprisal from administrators.

Daily Progress: Albemarle parent group’s report slams new class scheduling

A slew of parents sent the School Board angry letters, obtained by The Daily Progress through the Freedom of Information Act. They contended that they should not have been cut out of the decision-making process. Many parents said they first heard of the idea from a news article — after the School Board approved the schedule.

Frankenschedule? Irked Albemarle parents slam 4×4 class plan

“I see no clear justification for this program, which has been abandoned by many other school systems,” said parent Mark Echelberger. Invoking Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, he added, “I fear teachers and students have been left standing on the shore.”

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One of the budgetary changes enacted this school year in Albemarle County schools is the “student activity fee” -

A student activity fee of $75 per student, per sport, with a cap of $450 per family will be enacted.

Regardless of the arguments for or against the fee, why make collecting it so difficult?

The Athletic Fee Letter recently distributed to Western Albemarle High School parents notes the ways to make payments … bring the check or mail the check. The check? Who uses checks?

1. FALL COLLECTION NIGHTS
Friday, August 13 (Football Scrimmage); 6:00 -7:00 at WAHS Stadium
Wednesday, August 18 (Fall Sports Parents Meeting); 6:30 -8:00 at WAHS Cafeteria
Thursday, August 19 (Open House); 6:30-7:30 at WAHS Cafeteria

2. Bring or mail directly to Western Albemarle Athletic Department: Western Albemarle High School Athletic Department 5941 Rockfish Gap turnpike Crozet, VA 22932

How hard would it be to set up a PayPal account or any other Paypal alternatives?

Think of the labor saved. The convenience gained. The ease of collecting the fees.

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All the data in the world isn’t going to change my opinion, either as a Realtor or as a parent, that good, quality schools matter – to our kids and to our housing values.

From The Impact of School Characteristics on House Prices: Chicago 1987-1991

For many people, an important consideration when buying a house is the quality of the local public schools. There is a general perception that, all else equal, houses in better school districts will cost more.
…

Our results indicate that individuals pay attention to both per-pupil expenditures and test scores when deciding where to locate. However, when purchasing a home, individuals do appear to consider the current test performance of students in the local school rather than the extent to which a community’s schools contribute to a cohort’s test performance.

So what? What happens to Albemarle County home values if:

1 – Albemarle County schools cannot trim the fat sufficiently and
2 – They have to make so many dramatic cuts?

This is an email sent by the Albemarle County Parents’ Council with five attachments that will help you get acclimated … before the public hearing tonight at 6:30.

Brian Wheeler has presented a post with hard numbers – numbers that put into context what an increase in property taxes would mean for you – something that has been mostly lacking from most discussions I have read.

The Albemarle County Public Schools budget is now facing catastrophic cuts if we do not find new sources of revenue. This is the result of the national economy, declining sales taxes, declining property values, a proposal to lower taxes collected in Albemarle, and significant state funding cuts for education.

… In an effort to get my head around the numbers, I have prepared the attached spreadsheet which evaluates (to the best of my ability with the data available), the impact of the different budget scenarios and what different property tax rate increases necessary to close the funding gap.

• http://www.wheeleronboard.com/docs/20100214-analysis-wheeler.pdf (Acrobat PDF); or

• http://www.wheeleronboard.com/docs/20100214-analysis-wheeler.xls (Excel spreadsheet)

If you download the Excel spreadsheet, you can even plug in your own home assessments from 2009 and 2010 to measure the personal impact of adjusting the tax rate. At this point in the process, I don’t like trying to address a budget challenge by manipulating the tax rate, but I think the public deserves some factual information about the different scenarios and how that might impact their personal pocketbooks. At this point, the burden has been put on local government and it has few revenue tools at its disposal. We all need to understand the cost-benefit of the status quo, the current tax rate, which in reality is a tax reduction.

…

In the analysis I have provided, here is the bottom line for the median household (2009 sales price) in Albemarle.

• With the worst case state funding scenario (new reductions of $9 million), a property tax rate of 86.5 cents would fund Dr. Moran’s budget with only Tier 1 cuts implemented. That rate would increase ANNUAL tax payments by $272.08 for the median priced home when compared to 2009.

• In the best case state funding scenario, a property tax rate of 81.9 cents would balance the budget and increase ANNUAL tax payments by $146.19 for the median priced home when compared to 2009.

This discussion at the Daily Progress was pretty informative.

* Thank you to Deedstreet for pointing me to the below-referenced study.

The quality of local public schools is widely believed to be a key determinant of housing prices.1 However, the strength of the consensus is puzzling, given the formidable empirical challenges facing any homeowner or empirical researcher seeking to answer the question carefully.2 First, good schools usually come bundled with other neighborhood qualities– such as proximity to employment, shopping and recreational conveniences and neighborhood peers. Because the homebuyers who enjoy (and can afford) such amenities tend to congregate together, it is difficult to isolate the effect of schools from the effect of these other traits that accompany good schools. Second, it is difficult to disentangle the valuation of the schools themselves (school facilities, curriculum, teachers and principals) from the valuation of the quality of peers available at the school. Common measures of school quality (such as test scores) typically reflect both the quality of the education being offered and the characteristics of the incoming students.3 It is unclear whether homebuyers are paying for quality schools or quality classmates
for their children.

Google Rocks.

Personally, I’d feel a lot better about all of this if I trusted the government. (I’m surprised you made it to the bottom of the post)

Cross-posted at RealCrozetVA.

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The revenue sharing agreement between Albemarle and Charlottesville is a pointed point of consternation and disagreement and highlights the political (dysfunctional) relationship between the two Governments. This agreement and the relationship between the governments matter. To home buyers, sellers, residents (and Residents) – so many services are separate, but so many are and are perceived to be shared. Schools are clearly separate. (Albemarle – Charlottesville) Everything else is seemingly a matter of branding.

Tons of “ink” have been written recently about this agreement.*

Three of my favorite starting points are:

- Jennifer’s Revenue Sharing Agreement

- CVillePedia

- Revenue Sharing Agreement debated again

But have you actually read the agreement?

Inlookers, Charlottesville is surrounded by Albemarle, and to most people who don’t live in CharlAlbemarle, they are one and the same.

Charlottesville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia with a population of 40,745^[1]. It is home to the University of Virginia which provides another 9,000 part-time residents. Charlottesville is located on 10.4 square miles of land and is completely surrounded by Albemarle County. Charlottesville is also the County seat, though it is an independent city with a separate government.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the two jurisdictions as one of 363 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the nation. Its 2005 population of 188,016 ranked 212th in the nation^[2]. The MSA also includes Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene and Nelson Counties.

* Google News Search by location is pretty nifty. Have a look at their sorta-accurate historical timeline of the revenue sharing agreement .

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From the Albemarle County Public School Parents Council site:

The Superintendent’s Funding Request calls for $5.3 million in reductions, including:

• No salary increases of any kind for any employees; the projected 8 percent increase in health care costs and increased Virginia Retirement System expenses are covered by the request so employees will not receive a direct reduction in compensation for 2010-11;
• Increases in class size by one student in grades 4 through 12, a net loss of ~17 full-time equivalent teaching positions, many of which will be absorbed by attrition;
• Ten percent cuts in eligible operational budgets across the board for all schools and departments;
• Places hold on technology replacement and improvements;
• Reduces Learning Resources (textbooks, online resources, consumable materials) by $500,000;
• Reduces the transportation department by nearly $400,000, as efficiencies in routing, compensation, and program delivery are implemented. There will be fewer bus routes, longer bus ride times, expanded walk zones, and fewer bus drivers.
• Reduces professional development reimbursement funds by 50 percent.
• Introduces for the first time a student activities fee for athletic programs and reduces the programs we offer:
• A student activity fee of $75 per student, per sport, with a cap of $425 per family will be enacted.
• Freshmen athletic teams at Monticello High and Western Albemarle High will be eliminated.
• Junior Varsity coaching assistants will be eliminated at all high schools.
• Cuts instructional support funds for intervention and enrichment, CATEC, elementary and middle school summer school;
• Makes, for the third consecutive year, additional position cuts in at the central office, and in support services, including leadership reductions.

The Superintendent’s Funding Request is not balanced to current projected revenue. An additional $1 million in increased funds or further reductions must be made to meet current available revenue. The School Board will hold a series of budget work sessions in January, a Public Hearing on February 2, and another Telephone Town Hall on February 3 to hear feedback and concerns from the community. The Board may decide to revise the funding request before submitting it to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

Please get involved.

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The above are some of the many designations Realtors can earn (with the accompanying annual fees) … the education provided by the courses can be valuable, but cluttering up a business card?

Why?

Consumers don’t care. (maybe they do about this one. A tiny bit)

Maybe they would about this one, courtesy of the inimitable Kris Berg:

6. The National Association of Realtors unveils a new designation designed to further underscore the agent’s value proposition. However, the “I’m an Expert at Everything because I Paid for this Course and Say So” accreditation is quickly scrapped because it lacks the requisite snappy acronym.

It is replaced with the “Delivering Unmatched Marketing by Applying Social Strategery” designation and, by mid-June, thousands of agents are officially calling themselves … well, isn’t it obvious?

(she’s joking)

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So now I’m an Associate Broker. No longer “just a Realtor” (and yes, brokers would look at me with disdain when I would say that I was not a broker)

Why the wait? No reason other than I never had a compelling reason to get my Virginia broker’s license.

That changed this year with the opening of Nest Realty Group in Charlottesville.

It’s a fact that the bar for entry into the real estate profession is laughably, perhaps criminally low. We wanted to change that. In Virginia the basic requirements to obtain a real estate license are 60 hours of education, don’t have a felony conviction and be at least 18 years of age. Pretty low. (Colorado, North Carolina are broker-only states, and each state has wildly different licensing requirements)

One of our core philosophies at Nest Realty Group is that we have high standards for our agents, so much so that we wrote this belief in Nest’s Core Philosophies – a Manifesto if you will (more to come about these beliefs over the course of 2010).

One way we ensure the above is that agents must achieve their brokers’ licenses by the end of their first year with Nest. Frankly, it’s not that much more of an achievement, but it’s something.

A lot of people talk about raising the bar within the real estate industry; I have for many years:

- Move Off The Blogs to Change NAR

- If A Realtor is Unethical in the Woods

- But, We’re ALL Ethical!

(and in fact, recently had the privilege of serving on a National Association of Realtors workgroup specifically tasked with increasing the level of professionalism of Realtors)

Why require Brokers’ licenses of our agents? Simple:

- In the licensing vernacular, it’s one step higher than a real estate licensee.

- It’s an accepted and acknowledged designation – by consumers.

- Experience is required. From the broker’s application form:

Experience Verification Forms verifying that the applicant has been actively engaged as a real estate licensee for at least 40 hours per week during 36 of the 48 months immediately preceding the date of application.

The difference? At Nest we’re actually doing something about it.

Update 8 January 2009: Real estate education requirements by states (PDF)

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Next year is going to be an interesting budgetary year. Brandon Shulletta writes in today’s Daily Progress:

School division leaders drafting budget requests are also wondering whether next year’s supervisors are more likely to maintain the current real-estate tax rate of 74.2 cents per $100 of assessed value or increase the rate to 77.2 cents — two options officials have keyed on. At the 77.2-cent rate, county heads project that the average homeowner would pay the same real-estate taxes next year as under this year’s rate because assessed home values are declining.

No matter how it’s framed, that’s still raising taxes.

Brandon covers a lot of ground, including the Charlottesville-Albemarle revenue sharing agreement.

Albemarle County assessments are going to be a hotly-debated topic this year.

Rather than complain about or note how ridiculous it is for local governments to decide how much they are going to spend before they know what their actual income is going to be, I’d rather come up with possible solutions.

The current Albemarle County School budget is here; the proposal for the 2011 Fiscal Year doesn’t come until January.

What are your ideas for reducing the Albemarle County School budget, without negatively impacting our childrens’ educations?

- Fewer bus stops? Have all the kids meet at the front of the subdivision.

- What impact would year-round schooling have on the budget?

- How much money would be saved by turning off lights methodically and religiously? Are they already using CFLs?

- Print less

- Make less copies and have the students take more notes.

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Or … get away with it for fifteen years and you’re good to go. Or … after fifteen years, there’s nothing left to learn. Can’t teach old dogs new tricks?

I’ve been assured that the Virginia Association of Realtors will fight this bill; hopefully they’ll have better luck in the House of Representatives, because the bill has unanimously sailed through committee and the Senate. The red italics indicate the proposed change

C. The Board may waive any requirement under the regulations relating to education or experience when the broker or salesperson is found to have education or experience equivalent to that required. The Board shall waive the broker education requirement for any applicant for a brokers license who has, for more than 15 years, owned a real estate brokerage firm and during that time, maintained an active license as a real estate salesperson.

What? If nothing else, this proposal highlights the remarkably low barrier of entry to the real estate profession. That not one Senator felt compelled to vote against it is either astounding or not surprising at all.

This strikes me as an attempt to shore up the flagging real estate business model that has dominated the industry for the last thirty forty fifty plus years. Pure politics wielded by those who are seeking to stave off evolution and obsolescence. Or as Rob says so eloquently:

But at the heart of evolutionary theory is the notion of competition. Evolution is not, as popular usage of the phrase has come to mean, a peaceful, gradual change from one state to another. It is a violent conflict, with winners and losers, and the losers in evolutionary struggle almost always die.

Why are education, evolution and innovation so anathema to many of those in power, who have been in the business for so long?

If time allowed I’d go to the General Assembly and wander the hallways making inquiries of those who have already voted for this bill and lobby those in the House who have yet to vote. But, this is the best forum I have available.

I’m trying to be open minded about this, trying to keep perspective. Maybe I’m mis-reading the bill’s intent. I welcome any defense of the proposed change. Please – educate me (and do it quickly, because there might be another bill out there removing all real estate education requirements).

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A public hearing on Charlottesville Superintendent Rosa Atkins’ proposed $58.1 million budget for fiscal 2008-09 was as over as soon as it started at Thursday’s School Board meeting.

Though no one spoke Thursday, the public will have another chance to comment on the budget on Feb. 21.

It’s a shame to see citizens abdicating their responsibility to themselves, their fellow citizens and the children. Better public schools are one of the absolute best ways to increase property value. Where were the homeowners?

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I’ve said before, and this is a clear example, effecting change needs to be at least a two-pronged approach. Working from outside the aging gorilla’s reach is effective, but working within the behemoth’s reach in tandem with those outside efforts should prove much more effective. For better or worse, those to whom we are talking this afternoon make decisions that affect tens of thousands of Virginia Realtors. Influencing their conversation is but one way to get things done.

In an example of the Web 2.0 world, I’ve spoken to Ben Martin dozens of times, (only a couple of times on the phone, the rest on IM or Skype) worked on this presentation for a couple of hours, and have yet to meet him, but have full confidence that today’s talk will go smoothly. I’m looking forward to the question and answer part.

Update 1 October 2007:

Sites referenced today:

Cindy Jones’ blog
Merv Forney’s blog
Bloodhound Blog
Rain City Guide
Inman Blog
Robert Scoble
Blip TV (RSS explained)
Pewinternet
Rembex (real estate blog search)
Cluetrain Manifesto
Creative Commons (copyrighting)

Update 05 January 2008: Google just released embedd-ability, so I re-posted with the embedded presentation.

Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, realtor, var

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We tend to have an inordinate amount of school closings, in my opinion. The primary reason for this is that our counties still are quite rural. My understanding is that if one rural road is dangerous, the entirety of the school division shuts down.  That we still have so much rural areas is gratifying in a way, and one of the reasons Central VA is so desirable.

Surprisingly, 29 does not yet have their red jackets on yet.

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From Brian Wheeler’s SchoolMatters: Where is Albemarle Growing?:

I recently updated my analysis of the Albemarle County building reports from the past two years which document each quarter where new building permits are being issued in the County.  These do not reflect newly approved developments (e.g. Old Trail Village), but rather homes in developments previously approved where a building permit has now been issued.

The report includes all types of housing, but my analysis is limited to single family detached homes, as those are a leading indicator of future enrollment growth for Albemarle County Schools.

If you look at the list of proposed and current housing developments used by the Redistricting Committee and Dr. Castner in isolation, you can easily conclude about 50% of the development is coming up Route 29 North.  However, this report does not include Old Trail Village or Wickham Pond (two developments in Crozet submitted after the committee started its work).  It also does not include the proposed development at the Breeden Farm (south of I-64 near Mill Creek and 5th Street).  The Breeden Farm alone could be larger than all of the growth projected for Crozet (i.e. there could be housing for more than 12,000 people, the number projected for Crozet).

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