<p>google “Northern Virginia seceding” and you will find many websites on the topic. Here’s an article that was the first thing that popped up:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=true&article=8488&paper=72&cat=104[/url]”>http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=true&article=8488&paper=72&cat=104</a></p>
<p>There HAS been talk about it but, like this article says, it is highly unlikely it’ll happen.</p>
<p>Come on, Soccergirl it’s not just NoVa that’s not getting tax dollars. Here in Chesapeake and Hampton Roads our roads suck too and yes, my school also has leaky ceilings (even though it is fairly wealthy as well). My school has a lot of poorly performing, lazy students but the top 5% are extremely bright and have great SATs and GPAs, and I would stack these students up with any NoVa kids any day. Secession from the state, that is pretty funny. Give it a rest, lol.</p>
<p>I never said it is just NoVa that has this problem. It is true though that NoVa does get less than a quarter back on every dollar. Somebody said something about NoVa tax dollars and all I said was that is true.</p>
<p>I’m sure there are kids all around the state that stack up to NoVa kids. Again, somebody said more NoVa kids get in than anywhere else and another person said that the dimmest kids at UVA are NoVa kids. Somebody else said UVA takes a bunch of NoVa kids just to fill the seats. All I was saying is the % accepted from NoVa is not higher than everywhere else and NoVa kids are not having an easier time getting in just because UVA has to fill seats.</p>
<p>Secession was just a side note I brought up when I mentioned the tax dollars. IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. That doesn’t mean people haven’t TALKED about it. Sorry for trying to contribute intellectually to the debate.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you where they are hurting: Counties like Wise and Scott which have a 20% poverty rate and an insane unemployment rate.</p>
<p>SoccerGrl already addressed this… but:
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<p>Northern Virginia votes liberal:
Fairfax County voted for Kerry
Alexandria voted for Kerry
Arlington voted for Kerry
Falls Church voted for Kerry</p>
<p>Northern Virginia also gets a small percentage of the taxes it pays to the state. They’re going to build the metro out to the airport, and they’re talking about raising the toll on the road that the metro is going to be in the median of to fund the STATE’S portion of the metro. It’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>I think what he meant was that as liberal citizens, many NoVa residents should not care and actually be happy that much of their tax dollars are being spent around all over Virginia, with little concern about how much actually goes to NoVa.</p>
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<p>I had to chuckle when I read that. Not only because those establishments DO exist outside of Northern Va., but because they mentioned The Cheasecake Factory in the same paragraph as Lexus, Mercedes, etc. I personally would put The Cheasecake Factory in the same category as a Wal-Mart.</p>
<p>True…we do have those establishments as well. I spend way too much time at Cheesecake Factory…</p>
<p>michaelburt, how exactly would you define Southern VA? I am talking about the Hampton roads area in relation to Northern Va…it is south of it in the southeastern part of the state. To me the label of “south” fits. I have to agree about the culture here…very traditional and conservative. Also, Richmond is not in the Hampton Roads area…</p>
<p>I have never heard of the western part of the state referred to as the Southern part…</p>
<p>I talked to a friend who attends UVa right now about this. He told me that in his opinion, on the whole Northern VA students at UVa outperformed Southern VA students in freshman core classes, and out-of-state students outperformed in-state students(again as a whole, not individual vs. individual).</p>
<p>soccer people, sv3a conveyed my point (thanks). i wasn’t saying those two facts were wrong, merely observing that they were contradictory ;)</p>
<p>Well there are still a lot of conservatives in NoVa too, but I think that just because someone is a democrat doesn’t mean they want a large portion of their tax dollars to go to other areas while their area is in desperate need of improvements. I don’t know…just my thinking, though I do understand that they could appear to be contradictory things.</p>
<p>i’m glad that you get what i was saying. also, i was commenting on a generally liberal philosophy, which doesn’t mean all democrats adhere to it; i was speaking of liberal as the (American) meaning unto itself. Therefore the entire Northern Virginia community could be a democrat but still not be considered really liberal because they don’t agree to their tax dollars being spent elsewhere. But if the community was a liberal than they typically wouldn’t be so concerned with such a thing.</p>
<p>that said, not trying to turn this into a poitical/ philosophical/ economic debate or anything.</p>
<p>Cheesecake Factory is found in the most upscale malls in the US–The Plaza in KC, Bellevue Square in Seattle, etc. Your snobby jibe is BS. And you can’t spell.</p>
<p>Just because the Cheesecake Factory is found in upscale malls, doesn’t mean it’s good. In fact, the food is bad, very bad. That is why I place it in the same category as Wal-Mart. The people who eat at The Cheesecake Factoy are the same who shop at Wal-Mart. Want lots of food that has little taste.</p>
<p>I reside in southern va. At one time, I lived in NoVa and by far the school systems are superior to the southern va schools. Why? There is money in NoVa. The average combined income around southern va is 28,000 a year whereas NOVA’s average salary is in the six digits. Also, the schools around here only offer three to four AP’s however NOVa offers fifteen typically.
Unfortunately, the schools here in SoVa are sadly underfunded. With a lack of funds manifests a lack of opportunities. (ie: lack of AP’s and poorly trained teachers). I prefer SoVa over NoVa however, because NoVa is just a big ratrace with exuberant tax rates, expensive cost of living, and overcrowded areas.
I wish to attend UVA. Hopefully living in the south will increase my chances. Bye, y’all.</p>
<p>By the way, Wal-Mart shoppers probably shun the Cheesecake factory because of expensive prices. I ate at the cheesecake factory once and thought the food to be poor and extremely pricey. I prefer to eat at home, anyway.</p>
<p>3 or 4 APs…I know my school offers more than that. Also half of our high schools offer special academies for the gifted, including IB…so I don’t think my school division is that bad off…</p>
<p>even if Southern Va. is siphoning away tax dollars, public schooling is a local control thing funded through local property taxes. Southern Va. is not to blame if a school has a leaky roof in NOVa. In fact the reason No Va has better schools is because it has a bigger richer tax base.</p>