Dear Source,
I live on St. Croix and I am a concerned parent with children in the public schools.
I understand that the public school teachers on St. Thomas and St. John have been paid their retroactive raises but the teachers on St. Croix have not. I cannot afford private schools for I have three children, two in high school and one middle school. The pay issue is a very big concern of mine because if the teachers do not get paid they will leave the school system permanently and all of the public school children will be without a proper education.
Sending your child to Job Corps is now difficult because they will not take too many more children from the Virgin Islands. Local children have more trouble adjusting than stateside children do, meaning more problems.
If the Virgin Island children cannot get a proper education then what will happen to the children? A lot of parents can't afford to move to the states for a better education for their children. Has the Virgin Island government gotten so greedy that it will risk the future of its children and the future of the Virgin Islands?
It's not just my children but all the children of the Virgin Islands. For without the children of the future, what will happen to the island? Even the federal government is finally tired of the nonsense the local government has been doing over the years. If there are no federal funds for education, how are the schools going to exist?
The children do not want to stay here because they feel there is nothing here for them. When you really look at it, the children are right. There are children who still want an education, but how can they trust the adults who are running the government. Children are not dumb or stupid, they know what is going on.
A lot of the children agreed with the teachers for striking. Some not only agreed but walked the picket lines with them. Children do know what is going on. If the government doesn't care about the children why should they stay in a place that doesn't care about them?
With no education, crime will become worse than what it already is and the juvenile system will begin to expand.
I am writing this in hope that it will reach the right sources and open the eyes and minds of some people in the Virgin Islands – as well as their hearts.
Sheel Gee
St. Croix
