In his speech last night, Gov. Warner expressed a willingness to compromise on the charter plan proposed by the state’s top universities. One of the losers may be university workers.
The legislation also is similar to permission the state gave its major medical centers in Richmond and Charlottesville nine years ago to operate free of some state bureaucrats and regulations.
UVa administrators point to the hospital as a major success under codified autonomy, but many of its workers are poorly paid and do not enjoy the benefits of state employees, Gaines of the NAACP said.
“We also know that the state has failed to do its part to address higher education’s needs,” [John J. Gaines III, a retired Charlottesville principal at McGuffey, Jefferson and Walker schools] said Tuesday. “We are concerned about the lower-paid workers at the university” and how they would be treated under charter status.
The UVA faculty also has some concerns. They outlined here.
The Charlottesville Daily Progress, perhaps not surprisingly, has covered this story well. You can find its stories here.