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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 7, 1993                   TAG: 9310150383
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BRUCE C. HENDERSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

OBE'S FAILURE WASN'T PUBLIC RELATIONS

I am truly appalled by the unbridled arrogance embodied in this public servant's suggestion that the deep concerns developing in the minds of thousands of Virginians over the past few months were simply a case of bad public relations.

Henrico County School Superintendent William C. Bosher Jr. has been quoted as saying, ``The intent was to lift standards, but somewhere along the way that goal was subordinated to an effort which assumes that the state can better provide for young people than communities and families, and that's a fallacious assumption.''

In the light of the divide so clearly represented by these two statements, it mystifies me that the Sept. 29 news story by staff writer Laura Williamson on outcome-based education (``2 school systems show how to achieve an outcome''), which I understand was researched for several weeks, failed to identify the common thread running through OBE opponents' concerns.

Instead, it focused on anecdotal information from two states, neither of which was Virginia. It might interest you to know that in response to tens of thousands of angry parents, the Pennsylvania legislature has recently backed off from its headlong plunge into OBE by making the decision to experiment a local one.

In New York, School Chancellor Joseph Fernandez was recently forced from office by overwhelmingly negative reaction to his aggressive attempt to force state-prescribed social attitudes upon the school system.

The problems with Virginia's version of OBE do not stem from poor public relations or ``the radical religious right'' as lamented in statements by several Department of Education officials following Wilder's withdrawal of the program. One has to look no further than the DOE's own information packet to understand reasons for its program 's failure.

For example, one of the seven ``Dimensions of Living,'' according to education department literature, is ``Local and Global Civic Participation'' encompassing ``the diversity of political, economic, and social rights and responsibilities that individuals have as citizens of their locality, their nation, and the world.''

Typical student outcomes under this section are: ``Identify community problems and negotiate solutions contributing to the public good'' and ``Support and defend civil and human rights worldwide." Gobbledygook!

What OBE opponents want is simply stated - a clear and unambiguously articulated program to improve the academic standards of Virginia's school system as measured by objective standardized tests. These tests should focus on the basic curricular elements of reading, writing, mathematics, science, history and geography with the express objective of reversing the dumbing down of education which has been seeping into the nation's schools for the past decade or two.

I and many others all over the state have for months been trying to make this point in letters to the state and at ``input gathering'' meetings such as that held by the State Board of Education atCloverdale Elementary School on Aug. 26, at which you had a reporter present. Why is it so difficult for your ``news'' articles to at least present this side of the issue?

I do not seek to deny you the right to your liberal agenda. Given that you are the area's only daily newspaper, I merely wish to point out that you would be doing your readership a great service by keeping it confined to the editorial page.

Bruce C. Henderson of Daleville is an electrical engineer at General Electric.