Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 3, 1994 TAG: 9404050138
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Roanoke County, city and Salem school boards are sponsoring task forces that have studied long and hard to devise strategies for meeting the goals outlined in the act.
Now comes the challenge of implementing their recommendations. Now, too, comes a far-reaching test of our community's commitment to education. We'll surely stand a better chance of passing this test if we realize how much our future rides on the results.
The need for national standards was made apparent in a 1983 report decrying the mediocrity of public schools. In a 1989 education summit in Charlottesville, the nation's governors - Bill Clinton of Arkansas among them - and President Bush agreed to six national goals, aimed at improving America's economic competitiveness.
Now Goals 2000 is the law. It encourages public schools to (voluntarily) set standards as a means of embracing the goals, and provides $400 million in grants to states and school districts that want to reform their education programs.
The six goals adopted in Charlottesville: At turn of the century, all children will arrive at school ready to learn. At least 90 percent of high school students will graduate. Students will master challenging subjects and be able to demonstrate their mastery. In science and math, U.S. students will rank first in the world. All adult Americans will be literate and able to compete in the global economy. Every school will be free of drugs and violence.
President Clinton helpfully added two goals, which Congress approved: Teachers will have access to training to improve their skills. And every school will emphasize parental involvement in their children's education.
That's it. Eight objectives - all ambitious and idealistic, to be sure. But can anything less than achieving these goals - or at least aspiring toward them - assure responsible citizenship, lifelong learning, productive employment and growing prosperity in a new world? Not likely.
We've seen the results of low expectations. The idea behind these goals is to energize public support and education-reform efforts by holding our communities, our schools and our students to much higher expectations, while seeking accountability for results.
The Roanoke Valley is among many localities nationwide working on Goals 2000, with varying degrees of commitment, to chart progress and identify areas of greatest need. The devil, as usual, is in the details.
To give just a taste of local strategy: The valley task force working on the "ready to learn" goal has proposed, among other things: expanding Head Start and the Child Health Investment Partnership (CHIP) to serve all eligible children; developing more preschool programs in public schools; hiring staff to identify at-risk kids in early years and follow them throughout their educational careers; using school buildings as centers for comprehensive services.
All other goals are futile, of course, if children enter school unready. Which is just one indicator of the distance between the region's status quo and the vision ostensibly adopted.
If valley schools collect funds from the federal Goals 2000, that will be nice. But success in this endeavor will depend on three other attainments:
First, strong local leadership to make the case, win allies and keep up momentum. Second, clear benchmarks to monitor advances and maintain accountability. Third, recognition that the schools can't do it on their own.
Indeed, only if the entire community embraces these goals, and invests in their achievement, are we likely to be proud of the results when the deadline and the new century arrive.
by CNB