Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 2, 1990 TAG: 9005020118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: MOUNTAIN LAKE LENGTH: Medium
At the end of its second gathering since 1988 Tuesday, its members rated education at the top of the list of issues they had drawn up during a two-day work session.
James P. Jones, an Abingdon lawyer and former state senator who is chairman, said at its opening session Monday night that it was this organization which - along with superintendents in Southwest Virginia - brought the issue of school funding disparities among localities to the attention of the rest of the state. The issue came up at an FSV conference last year.
FSV will monitor and offer to work with the Governor's Commission for Educational Equity for All Virginians, appointed by Gov. Douglas Wilder. It also will seek public support for better education and try to increase emphasis on adult literacy.
W.L. Lemmon of Marion is co-chairman of the governor's commission, which held its first meeting about two weeks earlier.
Jones, who met with Lemmon before the FSV session, said the commission had decided to focus on three areas: students burdened with disadvantages such as low family incomes or lack of preschool training; disparities in programs among schools and school districts; and the financial disparities between rich and poor school districts.
Jones, recently appointed by Wilder to the state Board of Education, said that the board in Charlottesville last week had continued educational disparities as a priority issue.
The second priority for FSV will be to seek political action on state and federal legislation that would affect Southwest Virginia. It will try to raise money from corporations to hire an executive director to work at least part time and will try to work with other organizations in Southwest Virginia to improve communications throughout the region.
Its third-highest priority is to promote multiregional approaches to economic development, transportation, tourism and infrastructure development through linkages to places like Roanoke and the Shenandoah Valley.
The group grew out of the Southwest Virginia Economic Development Commission, or Lacy Commission. Former Del. Charles "Chuck" Lacy was its chairman during a two-year study of ways to improve Southwest Virginia's economy.
One recommendation was for the region's leaders to form an organization to build regional unity and be an advocate for Southwest Virginia. The group was organized at a Mountain Lake conference in October 1988.
"Southwest Virginia is still on the move. We have not lost the momentum of the Lacy Commission . . . and our business here is to keep it going," Jones said.
The four Southwest Virginia planning districts have established organizations to market the region to industry - the Coalfield Economic Development Authority for the two coalfields districts, the Mount Rogers Development Partnership and the New River Economic Development Alliance. Colleges and universities have come up with various types of programs to assist the region.
"For an organization that is essentially volunteer, we have accomplished a great deal," said Jones. "But obviously we have a long way to go. . . . We do need an executive director and, obviously, an executive director is contingent upon finding some funding."
Jones envisioned raising $30,000, with one-third going toward the director, another third to office and travel expenses, and the remaining third toward a regional newsletter. The funding for the director is low, he said, but "it's my judgment that, after last year's experience, we need to start with baby steps."
Members expressed concern that the University of Virginia Center for Public Service, established at Clinch Valley College in Wise after the Lacy Commission report, was being diluted by having its leadership programs spread to other rural areas of Virginia.
"We worked hard to get this resource allocated to this part of the state and I'd hate to see us not take full advantage of it," said H. Randall Edwards, executive vice president of George Mason University, which is one of the educational institutions providing help to the organization.
Richard Sorenson of Virginia Tech recommended that the group establish a revolving loan fund to help set up tourism ventures such as motels and theme parks. Southwest Virginia does not have enough concentrated tourist attractions in separate localities to draw large numbers of visitors, he said, but combinations of attractions could be packaged for tourists through regional cooperation.
by CNB