Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Gov. George Allen's staff and state Sen Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, are still writing the legislation, although Allen has included $552,000 in his budget for grants to help cover the start-up costs of charter schools next year.
Trumbo, a former teacher who is now a lawyer, said he thinks that anything that would hurt public schools is bad.
He does not see magnet schools established in Roanoke as hurting public schools, he said, since they have their own funding. But he would be concerned if charter schools took money, space or other resources away from public schools in the proposed legislation.
Trumbo is the second Republican legislator representing part of the New River Valley to express concerns about charter schools. Del. Tommy Baker, R-Dublin, told Pulaski County school officials Dec. 14 that he agreed with them on their stand against charter schools.
Trumbo met with Pulaski County school officials last Wednesday. The county School Board has voted to oppose charter schools.
``It comes from a standpoint mainly of not knowing what charter schools are,'' said board Chairman Ron Chaffin.
The idea of states allowing private groups or corporations to set up their own schools has only existed for about two years, Chaffin said. ``There's not much research out there on it.'' If states are willing to waive restrictions and mandates for charter schools, he said, they should consider doing so for public schools as well.
Superintendent Bill Asbury said he opposes charter schools, although he favors new ideas in education. "In fact, we're trying as many as we can without going overboard in our county,'' he said.
Some of those new ideas include a demonstration school in math, science and technology at Dublin Elementary School, the Southwest Virginia Governor's School on the Pulaski County High School campus, and continued progress projects at two other schools in the county, said School Board member Sybil Atkinson.
``You go to other places and they can't believe what we're doing in little Pulaski County,'' said Atkinson, who has visited other schools as a member of the Governor's Champion Schools Commission.
Trumbo seemed inclined to go along with most of the School Board's positions on issues scheduled to come before the 1995 General Assembly. The exception was the board's opposition to an outside panel to decide teacher grievances. The board argues that the panel would be making decisions without having the responsibility for them.
``You're not going to like me on that one,'' Trumbo said. Under the present system, he noted, the School Board makes the final decision. But he believes decisions should be made by a disinterested third party.
Asbury said a teacher could appeal the board's decision to circuit court, which would provide that disinterested party. ``We say we want elected school boards so they can be closer to the people,'' he said, and then remove their power to hire and fire. ``How does that make sense?''
Chaffin said it was still not known if the locality would have to pay for the hearing before the independent board. Asbury said costs could go to at least $40,000 per case.
Chaffin said the board was alarmed at recent statements from the governor's office on tax reductions ``at a time when revenue appears to be scarce. Further, we are concerned that no additional funding appears to be provided or earmarked for public education. Our schools are also getting older and our capital needs are many.''
Under the governor's proposal, state money for dropout prevention, maintenance reserves and to compensate for enrollment losses would be removed and put in a single fund for at-risk students that would be added to local budgets. But Trumbo said the money in that single fund will be less than the total that would have gone for the other items.
He said the most important items to get back for his district, which includes Radford, Giles and part of Pulaski County as well as other counties to the northeast, would be the maintenance and enrollment loss funding.
Pulaski County will get $15.27 million from the state for the 1994-95 school year and would have gotten $15.47 million under the same formula in 1995-96, a $204,833 increase. Under Allen's proposal, the county would get only $15,308,889, a $40,031 increase, and would be required to fund from that amount a required 2.25 percent salary increase for teachers, costing about $416,250.
Walt Shannon, the school system's business manager, said that would mean eliminating employees or getting the county to pick up more of the cost.
by CNB