ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: SATURDAY, October 16, 1993                   TAG: 9310160034
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

12TH DISTRICT RIVALS TROT OUT TEACHERS

When 12th District House candidate Nick Rush learned from a newspaper article that his rival was to receive an endorsement Friday from the Virginia and Montgomery County education associations, he didn't fret.

He organized his own teachers' endorsement.

An hour before Democrat Jim Shuler received the political action committees' endorsement - and a $500 contribution - outside Blacksburg Middle School, Rush stood in front of Christiansburg High School with eight educators, including his mother.

The tit-for-tat endorsements showed the Republican's aggressive campaign style, and highlighted even more where their bases of support lie: Shuler's is in Blacksburg where he went to college and has practiced as a veterinarian for 20 years; Rush's is in Christiansburg, where he grew up and returned from the Army to work four years ago.

The Montgomery PAC interviewed and surveyed both candidates before deciding to back Shuler, said Marshall K. Leitch of the Virginia Education Association. The local PAC then sought and received backing from the statewide committee.

Mary Biggs, chairwoman for the Montgomery County PAC, praised Shuler before 15 fellow educators. "You have effectively demonstrated throughout your campaign . . . that education is your top priority," she said.

She said the PAC is separate from the Montgomery County Education Association as a whole, which represents 80 percent of Montgomery's teachers. Members raised the $500 donation through voluntary contributions, not dues, Biggs said.

An hour earlier and a few miles to the south, Rush discounted the importance of his rival's new endorsement.

"A lot of the rank-and-file teachers support me," Rush said, noting the teachers' association has a history of backing Democrats.

"My opponent represents the way education in the state is going now," Rush said. "I represent putting education first."

All but two of the eight teachers publicly backing Rush said they are members of the Montgomery education association.

One of the non-members, Sandy Perkinson, said she is a former schoolteacher who is now teaching her daughter at home. "I think he realizes that big dollars and fancy equipment doesn't make good education," Perkinson said.

Keywords:
POLITICS 


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