
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 9, 1993                   TAG: 9306090304
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

USING KIDS' MINDS AS GUINEA PIGS

IN RESPONSE to James P. Jones' May 29 letter on Virginia's educational reform program, "The Common Core of Learning," Jones paints a euphoric picture. But beware: This program is not all it's cracked up to be. It's an experiment on the minds of Virginia's children.

Outcome-based education is not a tried and true method. In other states with similar programs, it's failing. It's heavy into behavior modification, to the point of infringing on parental rights. There is no emphasis on academics built into this curriculum, yet the state Board of Education passed it for further development with no knowledge of cost to Virginia taxpayers (estimates are $400 million for implementation), and despite an outcry from citizens at the board's May 28 meeting in Williamsburg. Among the 20-some speakers, all opposed, was a psychiatrist who stated he knew exactly how this program would affect children.

Wake up, Virginia! Find out about "Common Core." Don't take the words of the Department of Education for gospel. It's our children who are at stake. CINDY STINSON

BLUE RIDGE

by CNB