Hagopian 1
Mary Hagopian
University 112
Professor Cales
April 7, 2016
The Future Starts Now
The new 2017 budget plan that is being imposed by Mayor Jones does not take into
account the drastic measures it will have on the public school system. City Council has not
explored any other options of where the money could possibly come from. Instead of the $18million-dollar increase that the public school system asked for to help improve the learning
conditions of students, their budget is not changing from $11-million-dollar. With this new
budget shift in Richmond, there will be a closure of six public schools, increasing the pupil to
teacher ration, implementation of a bus hub transportation system, leading to a strain on parents
to find transportation for their children, and the demolishing of two unused schools. There is no
consideration to continue to expand the Richmond Public School system, even though that is
what’s preparing the youth to run the future of Richmond. The education of the children of
Richmond directly correlates and affects the future outcome of Richmond and its economy at
large, which is why there is being an implementation of a new budget plan in the first case. City
Council needs to investigate other areas of the public that could survive with the imposition of a
budget plan. Street parking meters could increase because in the short run, people will continue
to pay the fee because they need their cars for immediate transportation. By the time the long
run rolls around, and people start to shift to carpools, public transportation etc., hopefully the
economy of Richmond will be able to make another shift to continue to help lower the
expenditures. Richmond school systems are not being looked at as a priority even though they
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have ceiling tiles falling on their students and leakages in their walls. The school system is not
the area that should be heavily affected by the budget cut because it is the most important for the
future of the city.
Richmond Public Schools should be a priority for expansion and improvement, rather
than something that is disregarded for the sake of the city; the future of Richmond lies in the
hands of students receiving their education, and they cannot be educated in poor, diminishing
environments. While both Asthma and Whyte have similar opinions about people needing help
and aid, their viewpoints would reach a point of contention with regards to who should receive a
penalization in their budget. Stephen Asthma may argue that the City Council should simply
care only about what would help them and their successes, because what matters most is our
tribe. Asthma asserts in The Myth of Universal Love, “All people are not equally entitled to my
time, affection, resources, or moral duties” (1). Thus, the people closest and most closely related
to the ethical tribe of the City Council should be looked out for when this budget goes into play;
this assumption reflects why the school system would be targeted because most likely it has the
least effect on the members of the council. The City Council is looking for the most
expenditures, which has been found through the school system; as Asthma would look at it, the
City Council’s desire and affections revolves around the money needed for the city, instead of
the “right” or “duty” that is required from such an executive position. Whyte’s outlook is similar
in a way that corresponds to the “right” or “entitlement” that the school system has to appropriate
funding. Jamie Whyte claims in the excerpt The Right to Your Opinion, “rights…are defined by
the duties to which they give rise” (386). The school system’s duty is to provide a substantial
and strong education for the youth of the city, which lends to their right of having a safe and
useful environment to do that in. Therefore, Whyte may add to Asthma’s argument that just
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because the City Council has the control and power, their duty is to provide infrastructure for the
city that allows for success within Richmond. Even though Asthma and Whyte parallel each
other in their general viewpoints towards helping the population overall, their ideas differ when
it comes to how many, and who should be helped first.
There are other possible outlooks for the focus of the budget cut plan imposed by Mayor
Jones, specifically that which pertains to the parking meters of Richmond. Commuters have to
get into the city and park, leaving them no choice other than to pay the higher meter fairs; this
should be considered and discussed as a serious alternative to find money rather than the school
system. Singer suggests that people should not simply think about helping ourselves and those
who are loyal, but instead to think more broadly, and where the most benefits could arise.
However, Sandel might disagree with Singer’s argument because of his ideology that people’s
rights revolve around if they deserve it or not, and whether or not they would show off its honor
and righteousness. Peter Singer in The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle asserts, “An
ethical life is one in which we identify ourselves with other, larger, goals, thereby giving
meaning to our lives” (323). Singer’s utilitarian standpoint emphasizes and reflects that the
budget plan should revolve around that which can make the most people benefit; in this specific
case, the amount of students, parents, and teachers that would be harmed through a multi milliondollar budget cut completely outweighs those who would be affected by a higher meter price and
tax, over the long term. Social Explorer shows that the comparison between People Enrolled in
Public Schools in 2014 and Workers Using a Car, Truck, Van for Transportation in 2014 is
overall very similar to one another. 92.6% of people in Richmond attended public schools in
2014, most likely growing over the years to even more; 84.3% of people used cars, trucks, or
vans to transport themselves into the city of Richmond, which also most likely increased because
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of the constant growing population of students and workers in the city. This shows that there
would not be that an excessive decrease in expenditures if the city turned to parking fees rather
than the school system because they are so close in percentages of usage. The life of Richmond
children would be severely diminished for the rest of their lives because of their lack of
education, versus commuters who would start out paying more for meter parking, but then shift
to a more environmental approach such as carpools. Michael Sandel may disagree with Singer
about those who should be helped, but he might agree with him about the affect of an increase in
Richmond’s parking prices. Sandel claims in Who Deserves What? / Aristotle, “Defining rights
requires us to figure out the telos (the purpose, end, or essential nature) …Justice is honorific”
(291). Sandel might argue that commuters who are parking within the city of Richmond
“deserve” to have a higher price imposed on them because they are not honoring the
environment with all of their gas emissions. With the school systems, however, they deserve to
be properly funded and looked after because their purpose is to educate, prepare, and qualify
young people for the future. Sandel and Singer might oppose each other on the platform of who
the City Council should look after first, but they do build on one another’s outlook of the idea of
justice on a global scale.
Overall, there is no simple, straightforward solution; wherever budget cuts are made, a
group in the city of Richmond will get penalized and diminished. Nonetheless, the problem
remains that if the public school system of Richmond is downgraded, so will the education of the
future leaders of the city. The whole intention of the budget plan of 2017 pronounced by Mayor
Jones is the decrease expenditures, so that more revenue is available, yet it is not being
recognized that if the children of the education system are significantly negatively affected, then
the economy in the future will continue to fall and suffer because there is no one prepared to fix
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it. Asthma and Singer’s outlooks unite with one another, expanding the circle of ethics to try and
benefit everyone, while Sandel and Whyte simply focus on those who deserve more, and have
the right to more. Once the priorities of the city are established, deciding upon where money
cuts should be applied will be clear and concise. However, the challenge will be choosing what
the priorities of the City Council are, and where their true loyalties lie, leading to more
disagreement. The solution to this ethical problem remains in the hands of the City Council, yet
the School Board, parents, teachers, and students all can take a stance, expressing their views and
opinions to help further expand the options of the budget plan of 2017.
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Works Cited
Asthma, Stephen T. "The Myth of Universal Love." Web log post. Opinionator. The New York
Times, 5 Jan. 2013. Web. <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/the-mythof-universal-love/?_r=0>.
Sandel, Michael J. Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
2009. Print.
Singer, Peter. "The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle." New Internationalist All Posts
RSS. New Internationalist Magazine, 5 Apr. 1997. Web.
<http://newint.org/features/1997/04/05/drowning/>.
Whyte, Jamie. Crimes against Logic: Exposing the Bogus Arguments of Politicians, Priests,
Journalists, and Other Serial Offenders. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.
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