Caroline County faces many challenges in the coming years. Right now, the citizens in our county are facing a 7.8% unemployment rate, higher than any other neighboring counties. For the fifth time in the last seven years, the school system has failed to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), a series of benchmarks established by the Commonwealth. And while the county has failed to educate our children and to create an environment where they will have a job in the future, the county is leaving over $88 million of debt in their hands.
To fix these problems, the county must do several things:
Create a business friendly environment that will bring more jobs, lowering unemployment, and bringing in more money to the county while keeping tax rates low.
With these additional revenues, the county will be able to allocate more money to teachers’ salaries to bring in and retain dedicated teachers for our schools. At the same time, we must ensure that the school system uses its money in the best possible manner and not on extravagances and a bloated administration.
In addition to better funding for our schools, this additional tax revenue will allow us to pay down our overwhelming debt and not leave our children saddled with the choices the county has made in the past.
In the coming weeks, I plan on releasing more thorough proposals to address these issues, as well as on other topics such as public safety and historical preservation. I hope you will take the time to read these proposals and decide for yourself the direction that Caroline County and the Port Royal District should take going forward.
Thank you,
Reinhardt Watson