Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 13, 1994 TAG: 9406300097
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT LINDSTROM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The aw-shucks simplicity of the governor's proposal first creates a problem to which he then conveniently fits his solution. The problem he invents is that public schools are "a tired and tiresome monopoly." The governor has spent too long on the rubber-chicken circuit to know of innovations in the commonwealth's public schools.
Almost every school system in the circulation area of this newspaper now earnestly pursues at least one reform initiative. Most are trying multiple experiments even on impoverished budgets. Many systems are creating seamless transitions from school to work and college for a variety of students, not just the "champions" the governor ostensibly seeks to serve.
For Allen to acknowledge these changes would mean giving up his prejudice against the egalitarian social mission of public schools. It also would mean not fulfilling his campaign promise of tax dollars to the private-school masters.
The solution that necessitated this "problem" is the withdrawal of public tax money from public schools in order to aid private parochial academies.
The "logic" he invents to support his lame idea runs this tortuous gauntlet: Virginia supports private colleges with tuition assistance grants; therefore, we should underwrite private parochial schools. He doesn't seem to understand that TAG helps the state support private colleges that are necessary to augment the beleaguered state college system.
His faulty thinking lies just below the veneer of his stuffed shirt where, in his heart, he fails to understand that we have enough public schools to educate all of our children. Private elementary and high schools provide variety and options, but they do not augment the public schools' mission, as do Virginia's private colleges.
Allen proposes to "inject a dose of good, old-fashioned American competitiveness into the public school monopoly." Note that, in the style of demagogues, he relies on loaded language to give his enfeebled ideas credence:
Injecting a dose of anything conjures a positive sounding "treatment" image. But when we allow politicians to inject doses, we relinquish our opportunity to create community consensus expressing the public will regarding our children's future.
When politicians use "good, old-fashioned," we should know to be cautious. "Good, old-fashioned" solutions like corporal punishment, longer prison terms, a gun for every problem, and public dollars to support private entities are simplistic solutions planted in complex soil. These proposals grow crops to be harvested by the privileged.
Allen proposes that American competitiveness will solve the public-school problem he so imprecisely identifies. Is this the same competitiveness that created the insurance industry's strangulation of public health, and has littered the valley with deserted shopping centers and fast-food franchises?
If competitiveness is so commendable, will we soon see support for private police militias, liquor stores, fire departments? And will we give them our public tax dollars for duplicating current services?
The governor's "Champion" scheme is designed to pay off political debts held by the ultra-righters who now control the Republican Party. These Robertson-Falwellians want to raid the public coffers to support their schools of indoctrination. Allen is willing to sacrifice logic and Virginia's struggling public schools to keep these religious zealots happy.
It seems the governor knows more about "good, old-fashioned American" politics than he does about public education or the separation of church and state.
Scott Lindstrom teaches in Bedford County public schools.
by CNB