Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 26, 1995 TAG: 9510270028
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A professor who has taught 25 years in five colleges and one university, Jordahl says he would provide a new perspective on the board and help focus on educational issues.
He is running for the Cave Spring District seat on the board because, he said, that he wants to help improve the quality of teaching, reduce class sizes, upgrade academic standards, put more emphasis on technology and reduce stress in schools.
"We need to focus on the quality of the teaching and better learning. These are my priorities," he said.
Jordahl also wants parents to have more influence and control over school decisions.
And he promises to press the Board of Supervisors to provide more money to ease overcrowding and upgrade school buildings, and to increase teachers' salaries.
The supervisors have not adequately funded education because many schools - not just Cave Spring High and Cave Spring Junior High - are in need of repairs and renovation, Jordahl said.
"These projects should have been funded long ago," he said. "When salaries of the county's teachers are below the national average, it is clear that the Board of Supervisors has not provided sufficient funds for schools."
Jordahl, a professor of medical and biomedical ethics at the College of Health Sciences, said parents are "outraged" about conditions and overcrowding at Cave Spring High and Cave Spring Junior High.
He believes that air conditioning should be installed and other improvements should be made at Cave Spring Junior High regardless of whether the school division decides to keep the school open and incorporate it into its long-range plan.
"The money would not be wasted. The county has never abandoned a school building and it would be used for something else even if it was no longer used for a school," Jordahl said.
The supervisors recently refused to provide $2.5 million for air conditioning at Cave Spring Junior until consultants complete their study of school building needs in Southwest County and the school division decides whether it will keep using the building.
He said that the building can be air-conditioned for less than the estimated $2.5 million and he is working with an engineer on a cheaper plan.
Jordahl, 61, said he will support the wishes of parents and residents in Southwest County on the issue of one or two schools to replace Cave Spring High.
"I want to do what the people in the district want. My role is not to impose my opinion on them," he said. "We have to do what the people want and what the taxpayers will finance."
Jordahl believes that a proposed 500-student "high school of choice" for academics and the arts will appeal to some students and parents, but he said that is a decision for the community to make.
He wants to open up the school board process and provide more opportunities for parents to have a voice in decisions affecting schools. He also complains that the State Department of Education has too much control over local schools and puts too much emphasis on standardized tests.
Teachers don't have time to teach because there are so many standardized tests and state mandates, he said. The state's emphasis on tests puts excessive stress on students and causes some to develop emotional problems, he said.
"Testing does not raise academic standards or the quality of education," he said. "You raise standards by improving the quality of teaching."
Jordahl said that some teachers need to be replaced, but he said the Virginia Education Association and the local affiliate of the teachers' organization have resisted efforts to get rid of incompetent teachers.
"Their agenda has not always served the best interests of the schools," he said.
Jordahl is a former chairman of the department of philosophy and religion at Roanoke College. He was also the first provost and chief administrative officer of Virginia College, a Roanoke Valley school that specializes in data processing and computer science.
He is running in the three-way contest for the Cave Spring seat that is being vacated by Maurice "Buck" Mitchell. His opponents are William Irvin and Carol White.
Jordahl said he is committed to "conservative pro-family values" and supports "high standards of social morality" in schools. He believes that the state-mandated sex-education program has been a waste of taxpayers' money and has taken away valuable teaching time.
Jordahl said the sex-education program should be eliminated in some localities and modified in others. Teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases have increased in some localities after the sex-education program was started, he said.
He also favors restrictions on school guidance counselors so they cannot use psychotherapy or advise students on non-academic issues. "Unlicensed guidance counselors practice therapy and use experimental methods without voluntary or informed consent from parents," he said.
Jordahl is a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit by conservative groups against the state Democratic party and state election officials because they were stopped from handing out voter guides. But he said the distribution of the guides was a non-partisan activity that occurred six years ago and was unrelated to his school board campaign.
Like all school board candidates, Jordahl is running as an independent because state law prohibits political parties from nominating candidates.
"What I did then [in passing out the guides] was not a partisan issue. And my running for the school board is not a partisan issue," he said. "It should not have an effect on my campaign."
VERN JORDAHL
Age: 61.
Hometown: Born in Ohio, but grew up in Iowa and Minnesota. He came to the Roanoke Valley in 1971.
Education: Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, bachelor of arts degree; Oxford University, England, master of arts degree; Durham University, English, doctorate degree.
Professional: Professor of medical ethics at the College of Health Sciences; first provost and chief administrative officer of Virginia College; former Roanoke College department chairman; and former teacher at several other schools.
Family: Married; one daughter.
Quote: "We still have to focus on the quality of teaching even if we solve the problems of buildings and overcrowding. The quality of education depends on the quality of the teaching."
Keywords:
PROFILE POLITICS
by CNB