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

DATE: SUNDAY, April 9, 1995                   TAG: 9504100010
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: THOMAS DEBUSK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NO: FINANCES FORM ONLY A PART OF A QUALITY EDUCATION

I learned to read and write, and add and subtract, at Margaret Beeks Elementary School. I learned to think and express myself at Blacksburg High School. I say that with pride and gratitude because I received an excellent education here in Montgomery County.

And I firmly believe we should make the same high-quality education available to today's school children. But while I support educational excellence, I think the current proposal to raise county taxes is unwise.

Finances are only one component of an excellent education. It's too easy to purchase a feel-good attitude with a fat check, then turn our heads and assume we've gotten the job done without addressing other factors that may be even more detrimental.

Consider the following: Montgomery County draws from one of the finest educational personnel pools in the state. Competition for teaching jobs here is fierce, so principals can be very selective. Yet those same teachers often face conditions that undermine their ability to teach.

For instance, teachers frequently tell me classroom discipline is one of the most frustrating problems they encounter. They say it's hard to keep Johnny engaged in learning when he prefers to spend his creative energy disrupting the class.

Multiple factors feed this situation, but lack of money isn't one of them. Unfortunately, classroom discipline affects educational quality in a huge way.

And consider this: as I write this column, five School Board members and the superintendent are winging their way to a National School Board Association Conference in San Francisco, to the tune of $5,100, compliments of you and me. I don't begrudge them the opportunity. I'd like to have gone myself, but I can't afford it.

And that's just the point. As appealing as it might appear, we just can't afford this budget and corresponding tax increase. Wouldn't it have been more cost-effective for only half, or maybe even just one of the board members to attend the meeting and report back to the rest? Are we certain school administrators can't find fiscal flexibility anywhere in the current budget?

There's no desire here to pick on education. I've concentrated my remarks there only because many people have assumed education will be the primary beneficiary of increased funding due to higher taxes.

But schools are not the only budget interest looking for a slice of the proposed new revenue. To managers elsewhere in local government the message is no different: it's time to look for ways to do more with less. Your counterparts in the private sector are doing the same. Why shouldn't you?

Thomas DeBusk, a native of Blacksburg, is a free-lance writer and editor. He worked as a staff member for Republican Steve Fast in his race against Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, last fall.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Current invited two people with opposing viewpoints on Montgomery County's advertised 5-cent tax-rate increase to share their opinions.

by CNB