Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 2, 1993 TAG: 9309020188
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOANNE ANDERSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The county's new superintendent wasn't specific about what kinds of changes he expects to occur, but he said he hoped communitywide planning will help shape it.
"Education and change is something we try to avoid talking about, but we know better than anyone else that the only thing absolute and positive is change," Bartlett said as the educators began their school year. The first day for students will be Tuesday.
Bartlett reviewed what has happened in education recently and its results, and expressed optimism for Montgomery County tomorrow.
The National Commission on Excellence in Education issued a report in 1983 on schools titled "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Education Reform." The central message was that mediocrity in education was at the root of the decline of America.
The report spurred a decade of education reform. "Somewhere around 1990," declared Bartlett, "it was discovered that quantity was not equal to quality, and the second phase of reform was begun."
Today, he said, the results of these programs include a decline in student achievement test scores, reduction in work productivity and fewer real wages. Bartlett dropped horrifying statistic after horrifying statistic.
"In a National Science Foundation study of 13 industrialized countries, American students ranked 13th in calculus and biology, 12th in algebra, 11th in geometry and chemistry. One in four of Virginia students who start high school do not finish. There are more blacks in prison than in college. Fifty percent of welfare recipients and 80 percent of prisoners are high school dropouts. One third of high school graduates require remedial work."
This was the depressing part of his speech, Bartlett said. "What we need to do is initiate communitywide planning which anticipates the needs of the students."
Bartlett applauded and endorsed the Focus 2006 initiative undertaken by the School Board and some 400 county residents. The first report of Focus 2006, to be available Oct. 19, will be studied by the School Board and result in what Bartlett said he hopes will be a vision for Montgomery County schools.
Bartlett, without supplying any specific details, said "our focus is clear and our direction is unwavering. If I provide you with a plan, a focus and a direction and the necessary support, our success in this school division will be mind-boggling."
Before Bartlett's talk, Roy Vickers, chairman of the School Board, spoke. He said Montgomery County needs to continue focusing on the ABC's - that's Auburn, Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Shawsville. His talk lasted less than four minutes.
B.J. Mullin, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, asked educators not to forget their own needs in the daily concern for others. She presented the challenge to get involved in the organization and a message of hope for Montgomery County.
by CNB