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

DATE: SUNDAY, October 1, 1995                   TAG: 9510020051
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


GOALS 2000 DECISION GETS MIXED REVIEWS

SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES in Western Virginia are split over Gov. George Allen's decision not seek $8.5 million in federal funding for the Goals 2000 program.

John Reed agrees with Gov. George Allen on Goals 2000.

"Goals 2000 is a cop-out for weak schools. It changes the emphasis on knowledge, facts and information to values and attitude," says Reed, a candidate for the Roanoke County School Board.

"Goals 2000 will shift control of our local school districts to state and federal bureaucracies," he says.

Many educators and Democratic politicians have attacked Allen for refusing to seek $8.5 million in federal funds under the Goals 2000 program.

School board candidates in Western Virginia are split over the issue.

Although a majority of the candidates responding to a survey by The Roanoke Times oppose Allen's decision, Reed and more than a dozen others either say they support it or have not made up their minds.

Those who disagree with the governor contend he rejected the money for political reasons at the expense of schools.

"Governor Allen is simply making a political statement - as irrational as it may be," says Richard Edwards, a candidate for the Montgomery County School Board.

"Bedford County already has multitudes of mandates from the federal government," says candidate Hunter B. Hale Jr.

"Why shouldn't we take advantage of their offer to fund some of our education? I feel Governor Allen is missing the boat. Can [47] states already receiving Goals 2000 funding be wrong?'' Hale asks.

But Van Flora, who is running for the Franklin County School Board, sees it differently.

"The way I understand this is we take take federal money, and then Washington tells us how to spend all our our money," Flora says.

"I think people in Franklin County know what's best for Franklin County."

Goals 2000 is an initiative that grew out of an education summit sponsored by former President Bush and the nation's governors in Charlottesville in 1989.

The summit set national education goals for the year 2000, including:

U.S. students will be ranked first in the world in mathematics and science.

The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent.

Every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, firearms and alcohol.

In 1994, Congress approved a federal program supported by the Clinton administration that provides grants to states to improve the education system and establish national academic goals and guidelines.

Under Goals 2000, Virginia was eligible for $1.7 million in first-year funding and $6.8 million in the second year to support its community and state education improvement efforts.

The state Board of Education voted to seek the money, but Allen blocked the move, saying that it could lead to federal intrusion into Virginia's classrooms.

Although the Goals 2000 money comes with few explicit restrictions, Allen says it could give the federal government too much influence in state schools in exchange for a small amount of money.

The Christian Coalition and conservatives say the program could lead to mandating policies, such as sex education and politically correct versions of history.

Allen says the funds in the first year would be less than a penny per day per student in the state's schools.

"It would be a small price to pay to safeguard the principle of local control of public education," he says.

Allen says he wanted to wait to see if a Republican-controlled Congress would revise the program to preserve local control over education.

Now it appears Goals 2000 might be eliminated altogether.

The House has voted to eliminate all funding for Goals 2000. The Clinton administration had planned to spend $750 million on the program next year. The Senate is debating the issue and it may provide only half that amount.

Some supporters say Goals 2000 has been so compromised that it may no longer accomplish what it was intended to do.

Supporters have met with Clinton to discuss ways to save the program.

Democrats and the Clinton administration deny Goals 2000 would erode local control of schools. They say that nothing in the legislation would give the federal government control of or influence over local schools. The Goals 2000 program has been accepted by every state except Virginia, Montana and New Hampshire.

Virginia already receives close to $400 million a year in federal funds for education, says James Jones, president of the education board. All of this money has not led to loss of control, he says, and Goals 2000 will not change that.

Keywords:
POLITICS



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