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Richmond Free Press
VOL. 26 NO. 41
© 2017 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
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c e l e b rat ing o u r 2 5 t h A nniv e r s ar y
October 12-14, 2017
Getting a pass? Some fully accredited schools don’t always spell success By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Are public schools that are labeled fully accredited actually providing a good education for at least the large majority of their students? As it turns out, independent research indicates that label can be as phony as a three dollar bill. Richmond is a prime example. While the state has reported that 18 city schools were fully accredited, independent research shows at least eight of the schools did not actually meet state benchmarks. In other words, the percentage of students at those schools earned passing grades on Standards
Marker stands along the Richmond Slave Trail in South Side.
Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press
McQuinn may be unseated from Slave Trail Commission
of Learning (SOL) tests fell below the minimum in one or more subject areas. “For a school to earn full accreditation,” according to the state “students must achieve adjusted pass rates of at least 75 percent in English and at least 70 percent in mathematics, science and history. High schools must also meet a benchmark for graduation and completion.” The adjustments and waivers that have been pushed by the General Assembly and the state Board of Education are now so huge that schools can be rated as fully accredited even though up to half of students cannot pass SOLs, Please turn to A4
Obama coming to city to stump for Northam
Former President Barack Obama is coming to Richmond next week to stump for Ralph Northam, the Democratic nominee for governor. In a statement Wednesday, the Northam campaign announced Mr. Obama’s appearance in the capital of the commonwealth next Thursday, Oct. 19, but said details on the time and location would be forthcoming. The campaign stated that seating will be limited and urged people to RSVP through the campaign website. Still highly popular, Mr. Obama’s appearance is seen as helping Lt. Gov. Northam rev up the Democratic base in advance of the Tuesday, Nov. 7, election and push the turnout, particularly among African-Americans whose enthusiasm for the impending election is seen as lackluster. Mr. Obama’s appearance is separate from his scheduled speech at the Richmond Forum on Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Carpenter Theater in Downtown. He is one of several big guns coming out to campaign ahead of the first statewide
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
lation of a statue at 15th and Main streets that promotes reconciliation with the city’s era of For 12 years, Richmond Delegate Delores L. slavery. McQuinn has led the city’s Slave Trail CommisAnd a few years ago, the commission worked sion to bring attention to the history and legacy with former Gov. Bob McDonnell and Virginia of slavery in Richmond. Commonwealth University to gain funding to But the 70th House District remove parking lot asphalt and crerepresentative could suddenly find ate a grassy space on the site of a herself off the commission as the former burial ground for slaves and city, in concert with the commission, free African-Americans at Broad and poises to develop a museum-style 15th streets. development in Shockoe Bottom to The question of Delegate Mchighlight Richmond’s role as a major Quinn’s tenure arises amid planning center for the buying and selling of for the museum-style development human beings. near the Main Street Station on the During Delegate McQuinn’s Delegate McQuinn former site of the notorious Lumptenure, the commission, with city kin’s Jail slave pen — a place so backing, has posted educational markers along horrific that it was dubbed the Devil’s half-acre. the Slave Trail that winds from South Side into After the Civil War, the site ironically became Downtown, and allows people to travel the classroom space for a predecessor of Virginia path that slaves walked to and from auctions Union University. in Shockoe Bottom before abolition. Please turn to A4 The commission also assisted with the instal-
President Obama
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Lt. Gov. Northam
Please turn to A4
Richmond Crusade for Voters endorses diverse slate By Jeremy M. Lazarus
modernization that the Crusade helped put on the Richmond ballot, countering Dr. Adams, who is opThe Richmond Crusade for Voters this week, as posed to the referendum. expected, endorsed the statewide Democratic ticket of Delegate Loupassi has called fixing Richmond’s Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam for governor, Justin Fairfax for schools “a moral issue” and is using his campaign to lieutenant governor and Mark Herring for re-election urge public support for the referendum that seeks to to attorney general. change the City Charter to require Mayor Levar M. But the city’s oldest and largest African-American Stoney to come up with a fully funded plan to modpolitical group also voted Monday to support the reernize the city’s worn-out school buildings. election of six-term Republican Delegate G. Manoli Delegate Loupassi He is the only member of the city’s General Assembly Loupassi over his Democratic challenger Dawn Adams delegation to publicly endorse the referendum, and he has in the 69th District. promised to push for passage of the measure in the next legislative After marking its 61st year at a Saturday banquet, the Cru- session if voters approve it in the November election. sade threw its support to Delegate Loupassi for going all out Please turn to A4 to encourage passage of an advisory referendum on city school
Facebook to boost local economy By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Festival fun
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Jackson Daniel plays a giant game of Connect 4 at the 2nd Street Festival in Jackson Ward last Saturday. The weekend festival showcased various musical genres, foods, local vendors and artists. Please see more photos on B3.
For the Richmond area, Facebook is about to become more than a means for people to exchange messages and information. The company is planting a $750 million data center in Henrico County that is projected to create hundreds of temporary construction jobs and at least 100 permanent jobs on the outskirts of Richmond. Gov. Terry McAuliffe capped three years of talks with Facebook with the announcement last week that the company
was coming and bringing $1 billion in new investment to the state. That includes a $750 million data center, a place where the company can store digital information, to be built in a technology park near Richmond’s airport and a separate investment of about $250 million that Dominion Energy will make in solar facilities to power the center with renewable energy. Facebook, which launched in 2004 and is now among the world’s largest companies, chose the White Oak Technology Park for what is touted as the area’s biggest single
private investment ever. The arrival of Facebook will be a boon to the county, which expects to receive at least $4 million a year in new taxes after the data center opens, officials said. It also is a benefit to the state and the area, Gov. McAuliffe said as he welcomed Facebook. “When an industry giant like Facebook selects Virginia for a major operation, it’s proof that our efforts to build an open and welcoming economy that works for Please turn to A4