In justifying his approval of Rosalia Payne's vacation in the midst of a teachers' strike, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull explained that there were plenty of people to cover for the insular superintendent of schools while she was off on a cruise.
There are assistants and deputies and other administrators because, he explained, if someone dies there has to be a backup.
And that's the problem.
Virgin Islanders have been complaining for many, many years about the bloated, top-heavy administration in Education. Now that the governor has let the cat out of the bag about all the extra administrators, it is time to do something about it.
The spending per capita on education in the Virgin Islands matches or exceeds that of many upper-middle-class school districts on the mainland — school districts with beautiful facilities, more than enough equipment to go around and exciting, stimulating curricula.
In contrast, Virgin Islands children go without textbooks and even toilet paper; they don't even have the basics. Where does all that per capita spending go? To superfluous administrators.
This is shameful.
At one point over the summer, no doubt in frustration, Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds said maybe the schools should be shut down for a year. It's not a bad idea. They have been shut down for two months already—why stop now?
Maybe it is time to shut down and dismantle the entire education system and rebuild one that will work for the children; a system that would include smaller schools, qualified teachers, interesting and pertinent classes and a handful of dedicated, qualified administrators complete with meaningful, justifiable job descriptions.
It's time for the governor to put his money where his mouth is and really make the children his No. 1 priority.