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

DATE: SUNDAY, October 1, 1995                   TAG: 9510020025
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: |By DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ISSUE ISN'T CONFINED TO SCHOOL BOARD RACES

The debate over federal Goals 2000 money isn't confined to school boards.

Roanoke Vice Mayor John Edwards used the issue Thursday to lash out at the Republican he wants to replace in the state Senate seat representing Roanoke and most of Roanoke County.

State Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, opposes accepting the funding. Bell has said he fears it will lead to federal mandates for Virginia schools.

"This refusal to apply for Goals 2000 funding is especially hard to understand in view of the fact that the state Board of Education asked for Goals 2000 funds, the legislature voted for them, and [47] other states have applied for these funds," Edwards said outside Westside Magnet School for the Performing Arts.

"North Carolina is receiving $2.1 million, putting Virginia at a competitive disadvantage," Edwards said.

But Bell said the funding "amounts to one penny per child per day" for Virginia students and that it's tantamount to handing "control of local schools over to Washington."

Although there aren't strings attached to the money, that doesn't mean there won't be in the future, said James Faulkner, Bell's campaign manager.

"The federal government has always had the trade-off, 'You take our money, but fine, you have to do what we say.' Brandon doesn't want to compromise