Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 15, 1995 TAG: 9508150060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke might have to trim its program to help disadvantaged children improve their reading, writing and math skills at a time when it is trying to raise student scores on standardized tests.
The city would lose nearly $450,000 a year in federal funds for special help for disadvantaged students under education budget cuts that have been approved by the House of Representatives.
If the House budget plan becomes law, Roanoke may have to reduce the number of teachers, reading specialists and teacher's aides who work with children who are having academic problems, said Dolores Johns, director of the city's program.
"Since this is designed to supplement services for kids falling behind, you need all the help you can get when the push is on to improve test scores," Johns said.
Roanoke would lose the most money, but all localities in Western Virginia would receive less money from Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act if the budget plan fashioned by House Republicans survives.
Funds for the Title I program would be cut by about 17 percent for each locality, but there is a wide variation in the amounts that jurisdictions in Western Virginia receive. The allocations are based on the poverty rate and other factors.
Montgomery County will receive nearly $1.1 million this year, the second largest amount in the region, and Pulaski County the third largest, $764,000.
Roanoke would lose $449,700 in the 1996-97 school year; Montgomery County, $182,000; and Pulaski County, $130,400.
The other counties and cities in the region would lose smaller amounts. Franklin County's $530,400 appropriation this year would be reduced by $90,500, and Roanoke County's $495,400 would be cut by $84,500.
The House plan reduces Title I funds by more than $1 billion nationwide and $16.8 million in Virginia.
Title I serves 6.4 million low-achieving children in the nation. School divisions have used the funds to initiate innovative instructional programs and involve parents in their children's education. The money has also been used to pay for teacher training, teacher's aides, summer programs and reductions in class size.
Roanoke uses most of its money to pay for 35 teachers, including 18 reading specialists, and 30 teacher's aides, who provide special help to children in elementary schools with a large number of disadvantaged children. The city also uses part of the funds to operate buses for a preschool program for disadvantaged 4-year-olds and an after-school program.
Other localities also use the funds to pay for teachers, aides and other programs to help disadvantaged children catch up to peers in reading, writing and math.
Roanoke County might be forced to serve fewer schools or reduce the number of teachers and aides if its funding is reduced by $84,500, said Joe Kyle, director of federal programs.
Kyle said Title I funding has been gradually trimmed in recent years, and another cut could require staff reductions.
The reduction in Title I funds is part of an appropriations bill that cuts nearly $4 billion in federal education funding. Virginia would lose $40 million for several programs.
The House plan cuts federal funds for vocational education by 28 percent; safe and drug-free schools, 55 percent; and adult education, 16 percent. Funding for the Goals 2000 reform program, in which Virginia did not participate, would be eliminated.
The Senate begins action on its appropriation bill and education funding after the August recess.
President Clinton has threatened to veto the House-approved bill because of the cuts in education and other programs. School officials are lobbying senators to reject the House plan.
"Slashing aid for self-help programs such as Title I is self-defeating because it takes away from our most disadvantaged students the tools they need to get a good education and be able to compete the world over in a rapidly changing technological era," said Thomas Shannon, executive director of the National School Boards Association.
Roanoke will also lose smaller amounts of federal education funds for several programs in the upcoming school year as a result of budget cuts approved earlier by Congress, said Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations. These include $80,000 for a summer jobs program for teen-agers; $15,000 for day-care care services for teen-age mothers; and a $17,000 reduction in an alternative education grant.
Kelley said it seems inconsistent to cut education funding when the federal and state governments are trying to reform welfare and provide young people with the skills to get a job.
by CNB