Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 31, 1992 TAG: 9201310074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THOMAS BOYER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
1,200 PROTEST FOR SCHOOL FUNDS
More than 1,200 parents and teachers stormed the state Capitol on Thursday to demand more money for public schools. The choir from Gayton Elementary School in Henrico County maybe said it best."Put another nickel in, in the nickelodeon . . . " went one song. "Ain't got a barrel of money," was another.
Keith Geiger, president of the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' group, didn't miss the message. "They're singing a song to the legislature," he quipped.
The crowd, possibly the largest to visit the General Assembly this year, listened as speakers stumped for teacher raises (missing from Gov. Douglas Wilder's budget plans for the third and fourth straight years), smaller classes and help for rural schools.
"We're here because there have been promises made that are not yet kept," said Dolores Delaney, education chairman for the state PTA.
Virginia Education Association president Rob Jones, one of the speakers, brought a message from his waiter at lunch Thursday.
"He said, `If you need more ammunition, tell them that I was a teacher, and I'm making more money as a waiter,' " Jones recalled.
Many of those attending pointed to the irony of the state Board of Education's recently unveiling a plan for "world-class education" without the state providing money to pay for it.
"There's no filling in the crust," said Charlene L. Christopher, president of the Education Association of Norfolk. "You need some filling so you get a complete piece of pie. We're shortchanging our children."
Pat Witten, president of Roanoke's Central Council PTA, was one of dozens of PTA members, school officials, teachers and parents who traveled to Richmond by bus or by car Thursday morning.
But she said they managed to meet with Roanoke Dels. Clifton Woodrum and Victor Thomas for only about five minutes. And Sen. Brandon Bell was tied up in committee meetings and unable to meet with them.
"They seemed real supportive of education," she said of Woodrum and Thomas. But she said that next year, the PTA plans to invite legislators to Roanoke to discuss these issues. "Today, they were really in a rush. And it was just so hectic down there."
"I hope they know we're serious about this," said Fishburn Park Elementary School PTA president Anne Viar.
Viar traveled to Richmond on a school activity bus, along with Superintendent Frank Tota and other school officials.
She said she went in search of some reassurance that schools wouldn't be hurt another year after the deep budget cuts to education last year. But she didn't come back any more optimistic, she just came back with "mixed feelings."
She just hopes that the big turnout will show legislators that teachers and parents will not accept another year like last year. "It was good to see these people from all over the state," she said.
Staff writer Neal Thompson contributed to this story.