Great Teachers Need a Lynchburg Where They Can Stay and Truly Thrive
A great teacher loves his students and his school, but a neighboring division can offer him thousands more a year – and teach in a more stable environment backed by a School Board that stands with his values. When he leaves, Lynchburg does not just lose an employee – our children lose a teacher who knows them, believes in them, and knows how to help them succeed.
I’m Christina Delzingaro, and I’m running for Lynchburg City Council because I believe city government exists to serve people and solve problems, and right now, it isn’t. We need city leaders who will think differently, bring people together, and get to work. For more than three decades, I’ve done exactly that. When our city faced a healthcare access crisis, I brought together community members to create Community Access Network – a completely new approach to healthcare access that now serves thousands of people each year. I got to work. I listened. I learned from those who knew more. And then I delivered. Now it’s time to bring that approach to City Council.
If we want great schools, we have to recruit great teachers and give them reasons to stay. Competitive pay matters, but so do mentoring, professional growth, manageable workloads, and a workplace where teachers are respected and heard.
Make teacher pay competitive.
Work with the School Board to understand what it will take for Lynchburg to compete with surrounding school divisions on teacher compensation.
Develop a responsible, sustainable plan to close meaningful pay gaps rather than accepting teacher turnover as inevitable.
Consider targeted retention bonuses where keeping experienced teachers is especially difficult.
Give teachers reasons to stay beyond the paycheck.
Provide strong mentoring for new teachers and meaningful opportunities for professional growth.
Look for ways to reduce unnecessary paperwork and non-teaching duties so teachers can spend more time teaching.
Make sure schools have the support staff teachers and students need.
Give teachers a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their classrooms.
Recognize that many teachers are working parents, too; affordable childcare and early childhood education can make Lynchburg a more attractive place to build a career.
Keep the focus where it belongs: on our kids.
Children benefit from experienced teachers who know their schools, families, and community.
A child should not lose a great teacher simply because another school division can offer that teacher a substantially better opportunity.
City Council does not run the schools, but it does fund them and appoint School Board members. Council should appoint members based on qualifications and a commitment to every child’s success. The School Board should be laser focused on creating a school system where children succeed and where great teachers want to come, grow, and stay.
If you believe keeping great teachers is one of the best investments we can make in Lynchburg’s children, I’d be proud to have your vote. As a member of City Council, I'll work to ensure every child reads at grade level by third grade, return our school system to excellence, and put teacher recruitment and retention as a top priority.
