Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 28, 1993 TAG: 9310280234
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Farris, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, touted his support for stripping the state Department of Education of the power to mandate curriculum, a move he said would give parents more control over their schools and free classroom teachers to teach the way they think best.
"We're talking totalitarianism vs. teacher freedom," Farris said during an airport stop in Roanoke.
Farris, a Loudoun County lawyer who heads a home-school advocacy group, said it was appropriate for the General Assembly to mandate that certain academic subjects be taught in public schools; but otherwise, the state should leave localities alone.
"We don't need administrators looking over teachers' shoulders on every little thing," Farris said.
The lieutenant governor has few formal duties besides presiding over the state Senate. But Farris, who is trying to oust incumbent Democrat Don Beyer, declared he would use the office as a bully pulpit.
"I'm going to be the chief grass-roots lobbyist for education reform in Virginia," Farris said, "and get a whole lot of people to come to Richmond to make that happen. Anybody who doubts that I can bring out a lot of people to Richmond ought to go and review the videotape" of the state Republican convention where Farris forces dominated.
Among the educators speaking on Farris' behalf Wednesday were Martha Warner, a remedial teacher at Burnt Chimney Elementary School in Franklin County, and Donovan Edwards, principal at Carver Middle School in Martinsville.
\ GOP chairman calls election `referendum on Clinton'
Haley Barbour, the Republican national chairman, passed through Roanoke on Wednesday as part of a statewide swing to pump up GOP volunteers.
He called Virginia's gubernatorial election "a referendum on Bill Clinton" and said a GOP victory in any of Tuesday's elections - in Virginia, in the New Jersey governor's race or in the New York mayor's race - would send a signal to Washington.
\ Woodrum denounces gun mailing
Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke, is unopposed for re-election, but that doesn't mean his legislative enemies have decided to ignore him.
This week, many residents in his district were mailed a flier from the Gun Owners of America alleging that Woodrum had voted to "move Virginia down [the] road to gun confiscation" and voted "to ban various shotguns."
In response, Woodrum called a news conference to denounce the mailing, which he believes distorts the facts.
"I voted to restrict one style of shotgun, and that's the `Streetsweeper,' which you only hunt one thing with - people," Woodrum said.
He also branded as ridiculous the charge that the state's one-gun-per-month law is a step toward confiscation. "It was not a gun-control law; it was a drug-control law," Woodrum said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB