The Governor has proposed reducing the funding for public broadcasting in this current budget with an eye towards eliminating it. One would expect the CEO of our local PBS affiliate, WHRO, to be against the cuts – and he is, as you can see here. While some might think that self-serving, a letter which appeared in The Virginian-Pilot this morning should erase any doubt as to the value of the funding. Carrying the headline “WHRO is a school bargain,” the entire letter is reproduced below:
IN HIS DEC. 22 letter, ‘Small cuts add up,’ the writer asks for ‘one good reason to keep funding PBS.’ I can give him 286,000: That’s the number of K-12 students in Hampton Roads whose educational experiences are directly enriched each time they walk into a classroom through the work his local PBS station WHRO does every day.
Or 25,000 reasons the number of area educators who rely on WHRO’s educational products and services to support them in the classroom. Last year, Video Classroom, WHRO’s video on-demand service, allowed teachers all across the commonwealth to quickly and efficiently access more than 40,000 video segments correlated to Virginia’s standards of learning 2 million times.
Or 3,500 reasons the number of Virginia students who completed advanced placement and world language courses through the Virtual Virginia Advanced Placement School, another service of public broadcasting.
Public broadcasters partner with the Virginia Department of Adult Education to help adult learners prepare for the GED test. Families can access the highest quality children’s programming 24/7, as well as hands-on early childhood workshops for parents. Reaching into every school and nearly every home in Virginia, public broadcasting is the best source of children’s programming available. It features research-based early childhood programs like Super Why!, Sesame Street and Sid the Science Kid, high-quality educational television programming delivered literally every hour of the day.
But if the writer requires only one reason to fund public broadcasting, it is this: Public broadcasters provide vital core educational services to every classroom in the state, enhancing the educational experience for teachers and students alike, at a significant savings for taxpayers.
In Hampton Roads, public schools receive approximately $7 return for every dollar invested in public broadcasting. That bears repeating: WHRO receives $872,000 from the commonwealth, and through careful stewardship and visionary strategic planning saves the taxpayers $7.6 million.
At a time when the economy is foremost in the minds of taxpayers and legislators, such a substantial return on investment particularly in the area of educating the people of Virginia cannot be discounted.
G. William WhitehurstNorfolk
Yep – the letter was written by that G. William Whitehurst, the Republican who represented the 2nd Congressional District from 1969-1987 and who is currently the Kaufman Lecturer in Public Affairs at ODU. No one would mistake him for a latte-sipping, limousine liberal.
Whitehurst makes a compelling case for continuing the funding. I hope the Governor and the General Assembly take note.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
I hope Mr. McDonnell listens to Mr. Whitehurst. I wish all who represented us, or even all who hold elected office, were the type of individual he is.
I believe him to be one of the last, if not the last, stateman to work for the people of Hampton Roads.
I don’t know the man at all. But if this letter is any indication, he certainly has a better grasp of things than most.
surprised you didn’t take any of his classes at ODU. Next time he comes to speak at my Kiwanis Club will see if I can wrangle an invite if you are interested.
He doesn’t teach in the accounting department. Besides, I don’t think he was there when I was an undergrad (back in the dark ages).
Yes, do invite me.
So, is his message that if you aren’t a kid in a classroom and forced to, you’re not likely to watch WHRO?
Hardly – and I think you know that.
It boils down to this: telling our lawmakers that you want the government to fund PBS is saying that you like PBS so much you think OTHER people should pay for it.
Where in Dr. Whitehurst’s letter did he say that?
That is what ANY request for public funding means — you want someone else’s money to go to that cause.
Actually, that is your interpretation of what it means. You are entitled to your opinion, of course, but not your own facts. And the facts here are that Dr. Whitehurst’s letter demonstrates that these expenditures save other expenditures that either the state or the localities would have to pay.
This isn’t “money for a cause” unless you consider public education a “cause.” Education is a core function of government.
It is not a INTERPRETATION, it is a FACT. Public funding does not magically appear out of thin air — it is taken from taxpayers. No matter how good or bad the program, asking for government funding is asking the government to take money from other people to provide that funding.
Yes, public education is a cause, just like any other. Governments exists, have existed, and will exist without providing public education. Education is only a function of state (not federal) government to the extend that the people have made it so. People made it a cause, and pushed the State government to take people’s money to fund that cause.
In related news, Warren likes:
1) killing so much that he wants other people to pay for it.
2) toxic chemical spills so much that he wants other people to pay for them.
3) Antonin Scalia so much that he wants other people to pay for him.
Tis a shame Warren insists on being a clown when he really doesn’t have to be done.
1) Isn’t it LIBERALS who want the government to pay for abortions?
2) I was unaware that the government was creating toxic spills.
3) Yes, I do want Supreme Court justices. I do understand that you do not like that the Supreme Court overturns unconstitutional laws.
Warren – you are wearing out your welcome. Your attitude – to denounce anything and everything that EVERYONE else has to say – is tiresome. You NEVER make a positive contribution to the conversation.
And if you can’t see that spending a little money to save a LOT of money makes sense, if you don’t recognize education as a core function of government, then you really live in a different world.
You really need to find a new place to hang out.