Thursday, March 7, 2013

Students see how county government functions



On Tuesday, the Turkish students in the American Government elective went on a field trip to observe a meeting of the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors. All students attended.

We arrived a half-hour before the meeting began and were treated to a presentation on the structure and functioning of the board by Tracy Gordon, assistant to the county executive and legislative liaison. 

The board’s meeting focused on budget issues. As legislative liaison, Gordon gave a presentation to the board on state tax actions and proposals that bear a direct affect on Prince William County. 

The board had an engaging discussion of taxing within the county vis-à-vis state funding and public transportation in the Northern Virginia region, and allowed students to see the intersections and interactions of state and local governments. 

We observed the meeting for two hours, after which Gordon gave us a tour of the county government facility where all the county’s departments are headquartered.

Students asked extraordinarily insightful questions before, during, and after the board meeting. They gave a clear demonstration of the importance and value of special-purpose coursework for language learning.