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

DATE: MONDAY, September 11, 1995                   TAG: 9509110053
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: P. GEORGE TRYFIATES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SCHOOLS GET TOUGH - ON PARENTS

The act requires parents to sign a form agreeing with school-conduct policies or face a $50 fine, and it could bring court orders for parents to undergo counseling or other punishment, including fines up to $500 for having an unruly child.

Roanoke-area delegates who voted for this state of affairs are House Majority Leader Dick Cranwell and Dels. Ward Armstrong, Creigh Deeds, Jim Shuler, Vic Thomas and Chip Woodrum.

They are part of a group of 56 delegates who voted on April 6 of this year specifically to reject Gov. George Allen's proposed amendment to the act, which would have guaranteed to parents their right ``to express disagreement with a school's or school division's policies or decision.'' Dels. Allen Dudley, Morgan Griffith and Lacey Putney voted for the Allen amendment.

Now, tragically, parents are faced with the spectacle of school officials in Russell County, for example, who tell the Associated Press that they would take parents to court if they had to.

But said one Russell County official, ``I really don't think we'll have occasion to do that.'' Gee, thanks!

Then there are the downright Orwellian comments by Cranwell, who says the act is just a ``gentle nudge,'' and by Bill Bosher, state superintendent of schools, who calls it ``simply a tool.''

Parents simply don't agree. They think that giving schools the power to tell parents what to do, and to impose fines if the parents don't do as the schools say, is just going too far.

Forcing parents to undergo court-ordered counseling because of the actions of their children is more than a ``gentle nudge.'' And, that ``simple tool'' is called a sledgehammer. Bosher, of all people, should have the courage to say so.

The governor offered several amendments in a vain attempt to get rid of the legislation's worst abuses. For example, one Allen amendment targeted unruly students - not parents.

One amendment said a court could go after the parent only if the court found a student's behavior was caused by a parent's neglect or failure to supervise.

That's a lot more reasonable than what became law.

P. George Tryfiates is executive director of The Family Foundation in Springfield.