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<br />TUESDAY <br /> <br />JUNE 8, 1982 <br /> <br />-. <br /> <br />MAYOR GREENE'S STATEMENT <br /> <br />This issue disturbs me tonight as it has in the past because I think that <br />City Council's position is misunderstood. <br /> <br />-. <br /> <br />It seems to me that there are plenty of loaded statements flying around, <br />such as "council is underwriting borderline education", "our children <br />deserve better than a second-class school operation", and that the $84,000 <br />cut in school funds "expresses a negative feeling towards teachers". At <br />the same time, there are few facts to support these statements and I really <br />think that the teachers, the citizens, the students -- all of us will be <br />a lot better served if our opinions and statements are supported by facts <br />rather than rhetoric. <br /> <br />First off, let me say unequivocally that I care about maintaining our high <br />standards of education and about the well-being of our teachers, and I take <br />great exception to inferences or statements that I feel any differently. <br />Each member of City Council has, or has had, children in the public school <br />system. Councilman Henry Reed spent many years of service on the School <br />Board as member and chairman. I think Council's strong record of support <br />for the City schools throughout the years speaks for itself, and it really <br />bothers me to hear unsupported comments to the contrary. <br /> <br />For example, on May 25th, Harry Davis, the President of the Martinsville <br />Education Association, stated in the Martinsville Bulletin: "No matter <br />how large or small the cut, it still expresses a negative feeling toward <br />teachers." <br /> <br />I think this statement hits below the belt. For me to answer a charge that <br />I have a "negative feeling towards teachers" is akin to explaining that I <br />really don't beat my wife. I can deal with issues through discussion of <br />facts but I can not discuss or disprove personel opinions presented as facts. <br />As I see it, to equate my vote to support the $84,000 cut with a negative <br />feeling toward teachers is like adding two and two and getting nine. I <br />think its unfortunate that, when City Council works on its yearly budget, <br />some people insist on giving Councilmen only two choices: either support <br />the School budget in full or be charged with accusations of having negative <br />feelings towards teachers and lacking support for quality education. Very <br />simply, I think the facts show that this year the School Board has pro- <br />posed salary increases which are out-of-line when compared to available <br />yardsticks. This does not mean that I think teachers are overpaid, nor <br />does it mean that I have negative feelings toward teachers, nor that I don't <br />care about maintaining quality schools. <br /> <br />The School Board has proposed a total budget for next year of $7,565,000.00, <br />an increase of $758,000.00 over this year's budget. The proposed budget will <br />cost the taxpayers of Martinsville $3,901,000.00, an increase of $277,000.00 <br />over this year, which includes a drop in debt service of $114,000.00. The <br />issue we are discussing is a proposed cut of only $84,000.00 -- 1.1% of the <br />total School budget and 2.15% of the local funds spent on Schools. This will <br />