Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 12, 1995 TAG: 9506130011
SECTION: EDITORIALS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES P. JONES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Doing "as well as ever" is no longer good enough, however. Our educational performance has not kept pace with the rising demands in the workplace. A recent national survey found that while 65 percent of parents and pupils think today's students are learning to write well, less than 15 percent of businesses and colleges agree with that assessment.
Continuous improvement should be our No. 1 task. We should set high standards for all students and expect them to meet those standards in such areas as math, science, languages and the arts.
It takes money, however, to have top-quality public schools. Right now, Virginia state and local governments are facing fiscal challenges, and finding additional money for improvement of our schools is difficult.
Up to $14 million in financial help is now available to Virginia through Goals 2000, a program of federal assistance to individual schools, school districts and state departments of education to help schools raise their standards. Congress has appropriated $403 million in 1995, 90 percent of which will go to individual schools to develop and pursue their own continuous improvements to move every child toward high standards.
Goals 2000 began as an initiative of former President Bush. In 1989, Bush held the first education summit of the nation's governors in Charlottesville. At this meeting, the president and governors agreed on national goals for education. At present, these goals are:
All children in America will start school ready to learn.
The high-school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent.
All students in America will be competent in the core academic subjects.
U.S. students will be the first in the world in mathematics and science.
Every adult American will be literate and possess the skills necessary to compete in the economy of the 21st century.
Every school in America will be safe, disciplined and drug-free.
All teachers will have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to prepare U.S. students for the next century.
Every school will promote parental involvement in their children's education.
These goals are ones that I think a majority of Virginians support.
Goals 2000 recognizes there is no simple "cookie cutter" approach to improving schools. The act states that "the responsibility for control of education is reserved to the states and local school systems."
Since this country was founded, education has been a state and local issue, and should remain so. Goals 2000 is an opportunity for us; it is not a means of federal control of our schools.
Virginia already receives close to $400 million in federal aid for our schools. All of this money has not led to loss of control. Goals 2000 will not change this situation.
The national goals were originally the initiative of a Republican president and both Democratic and Republican governors, and the Goals 2000 Act passed with strong bipartisan support and the endorsement of every major national business, parent and education organization. Education is everyone's concern; it should not become a partisan issue.
The Goals 2000 money can be used to help schools and communities redesign any part of the school system - the curriculum, technology, parental involvement, professional development of teachers - around clear, high standards.
To date, 46 states, under the leadership of both Republican and Democratic governors and legislatures, have already received Goals 2000 funds for their schools.
We have no resource more precious than our children. We cannot afford to let any opportunity pass to strengthen Virginia schools.
James P. Jones, who served in the Virginia Senate from 1982 to 1988, is the state Board of Education's president.
by CNB