Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 17, 1992 TAG: 9203170363
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The statistics citing the declining dropout rate in Roanoke's schools are indeed available to the public, as are all records mandated by the state. There are fewer graduates since 1980 simply because the city's population has declined, as shown by the 1990 census.
In recent years, Dr. Tota has obtained more than $10 million in federal grants for magnet schools, which are designed to reduce racial isolation and improve student performance. This has been accomplished.
This money has provided equipment, teachers, and programs that could not be funded locally. These federal funds help improve the local economy not only by providing more jobs, but also by freeing up local dollars for equipment and personnel for our non-magnet schools.
The grants supply funds for magnet schools only. The monies mentioned by Mr. Spangler for aerospace equipment and for the often-misunderstood aviation program cannot be directed to solutions for our city's unemployment, housing, or child-abuse and -neglect problems.
Dr. Tota's commentary, "Schools alone can't do the job," addresses these issues realistically. Improvement in public-school performance cannot be expected until parents devote the time to give their children the love, discipline, and emotional security essential to motivate learning.
As long as the schools are overburdened with inappropriate tasks parents have failed to perform (again, discipline and instilling a sense of worth and moral values), an atmosphere conducive to learning is difficult to achieve for even the brightest students. Nationwide problems such as the breakdown of the family and an ailing economy must be addressed, but that responsibility does not lie solely within the schools. SANDY LIGHT ROANOKE
by CNB