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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 16, 1993                   TAG: 9308260256
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BEDFORD

NINETY MINUTES per school class might seem like cruel and inhuman punishment to some.

And not just to students. Some teachers might complain that's more than they could endure.

But the concept, being promoted by teachers at Liberty High School in Bedford County, has a lot of advantages. The county's School Board ought to give it serious consideration - especially since the teachers overwhelmingly believe it would be in their students' best interests.

The semester plan proposed by Bedford teachers would have students taking four classes each semester, for a total of eight a year, as opposed to seven classes that now run all year long. Each of the classes would last 90 minutes, instead of the current 45 minutes.

Doubtless, the semester plan would permit more in-depth teaching of subjects. It would permit teachers more flexibility in the use of teaching methods. It would allow teachers to give more individualized attention to each student. Also, less time presumably would be wasted changing classes.

So far, so good.

But while some courses - science, foreign languages, computer technology, to mention a few - might be better taught in 90-minute spans, it's doubtful that all could be, or should be. The point should be greater flexibility, not replacing one rigid schedule with another.

The semester system is being tried at about 10 public schools nationwide (and is being considered by a number of other public schools in Virginia). Groups of Bedford County teachers, parents and teachers who visited North Carolina and Maryland schools where the system is in place were impressed with how it's working.

Such a system, it should be recognized, is just a different way of ``blocking'' teaching time. It may prove to be a better way. But no one should be under the impression that this schedule - or any other - offers a panacea for the ills affecting public education.

In the meantime, though, Bedford's teachers get an apple for seeking better ways to do their jobs.

by CNB