ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604290047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
WHEN Mike Rhodes sat down to watch ``Gettysburg'' on television with his son, he assumed the seventh-grader knew the basics about the Civil War. He was wrong.
The middle-school student didn't know the difference between the North and South. He kept asking his father, "Which side are we on?''
Rhodes, who works for Norfolk Southern Corp., was amazed.
He worries that his son's lack of rudimentary knowledge about the Civil War reflects what he sees as a disturbing trend in Roanoke schools: that they are emphasizing high-tech ``glitz'' at the expense of reading, writing, arithmetic and other basics like history.
"It's great to have computers," Rhodes said at a community conversation convened by The Roanoke Times, "but are we getting our history and social studies? I kind of wonder if we're getting too far away from the basics."
Susan Wadsworth, a mother of three children in elementary, middle and high school, shares his concern.
"I have a 7-year-old who can channel the Internet, and it's quite exciting to see him get e-mail from friends on the Internet in the second grade," she said. "But I also feel like [we need to] get back to basics and I think that's a common problem as I'm seeing kids go along."
Tom Moore, a retired NS employee, doesn't think technology and special programs necessarily provide a better education.
"I think they ought to get back to reading, writing and arithmetic and spelling," he said. "A lot of these high school graduates can't spell."
Deborah Jones, a teacher at Crystal Springs Elementary School, said it's not surprising some children can't spell, because they use the spell-check function on their computers instead of learning words.
Jim Schlueter said a teacher told his son not to worry about spelling because he could always use spell-check.
Kermit Salyer, a librarian at Virginia Western Community College, said he encounters students from Roanoke who are deficient in the basics.
"Some people come into the library, and you wonder how they got where they got, how they got that far," Salyer said. "Well, it's open enrollment, so we know how they got that far, but you wonder how they even learned how to read in Roanoke."
Some voters see schools - particularly the relationship between basics and technology - as a major issue in the City Council campaign. Several council candidates are stressing education; some want the city to spend more for computers.
Councilwoman Linda Wyatt, a teacher and a Democratic candidate for re-election, doesn't see it as a choice between basics and technology.
"There is no reason why these two should come into conflict," she said. "On the contrary, many educators are now using one to enhance the other.'
Republican Alvin Nash said the basics should be the ``cake'' of learning and technology should be the ``icing.''
Republican mayoral candidate Pat Green said basics must always be taught first, but schools need technology.
Mayor David Bowers, a Democrat seeking re-election, believes the school system is trying to maintain a balance.
Like most localities, Roanoke has emphasized computers and technology in schools in recent years. The School Board has approved a $23 million technology plan and has embarked on an ambitious program that calls for the city to begin installing virtual-reality laboratories in schools within four years.
The city has received $19 million in federal grants for magnet schools in the past decade - mostly for computers, technology laboratories, performing arts and television studios, and other instructional equipment. The state has provided nearly $2 million in technology grants. All teachers are being trained to use the technology.
The schools are under the supervision of the School Board and superintendent, but council appoints board members and provides the money for schools.
Jim Schlueter, who recently received a teaching certificate and is looking for a teaching job, said it appears council members rubber-stamp the School Board and superintendent. He would like for council to take a stronger role in promoting school programs and serve as a conduit for residents who want to take their concerns to the board.
``They could say, `My constituents are saying they want this program or they would like to see this sort of thing, and if you guys want to see increased funding next year, let's see some of this happen,''' Schlueter said.
Despite the voters' concerns, Superintendent Wayne Harris said the schools are still stressing reading, writing, arithmetic and other basics.
"We have not gotten away from the basics. In some cases, we use technology to help teach math, reading and other subjects, but we're not overlooking them," he said.
Harris said some people apparently have a misconception of the function of educational technology. The equipment is used to help teach students the basics and course material, not as an end in itself, he said.
There was some belief at the community conversation that Roanoke schools cater to the bright students and ignore the rest.
Tom Schroeder, a Patrick Henry graduate who attended the CITY School for highly motivated and intellectually talented students, said "there's a place for the glitz" of the magnet schools and programs for bright students. But he believes they're taking away from kids in the middle.
He said magnet schools, which are located in predominantly black neighborhoods, are designed to attract white students to help achieve racial balance, but they don't help the rank-and-file students in the schools.
"They just happen to be in the same building," he said, "and I think to a certain degree all this does is to sound real attractive on paper and brochures; and when it comes down to really helping the students, it doesn't."
Schroeder said the magnet schools attract the children who need the least amount of attention from schools, but they are getting the most.
Rodney Lewis shares Schroeder's concerns.
"The school system is donating a lot of time and money to the magnet programs, which is great for the gifted student; but what about the student that is not gifted, the average student, the one that needs help more?'' Lewis said.
Superintendent Harris said there appears to be a misconception about magnet schools and their purpose. The schools offer academic programs that are designed for students who have a special interest in such subjects as space, animals, plants, music, art, dance and television.
Magnet schools are open to any student, and admission is not based on grades, test scores or academic ability. All magnet schools have attendance zones, like regular schools, and all neighborhood students who live within the zone can attend the magnet school, Harris said.
The only reasons students are denied admission to magnet schools are lack of space or the need to maintain racial balance, Harris said.
Twelve of Roanoke's 29 schools are magnet schools. In addition to the regular ``3 R's,'' they offer special instruction in such fields as aeronautics, sciences, plants and performing arts.
"There is a notion by some we are doing things for students in magnet schools or other special programs that we don't do for kids in the middle, " Harris said. "The majority of what we do is for average students.''
Harris said Roanoke has more than 50 instructional programs for all kinds of students - from those needing remedial help to bright kids who attend the CITY School and the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology. But he said most of the programs are targeted for children in the middle.
Nelson Harris, chairman of the School Board and a Democratic candidate for council, said the data doesn't support the notion that the schools cater to the brightest students.
Only 3 percent of the school budget is earmarked for gifted programs, which enroll 12 percent of the students, he said. "The vast majority of the funds were and are spent for `regular classroom' programs."
Republican Jeff Artis said the school system wrongly assumes that some students can't learn. The city must "end assembly-line education," he said.
``We must base our educational system on one simple rule: `If Johnny masters the work, he passes. If he doesn't, he fails,''' Artis said. "If Johnny is 16 and still in the eighth grade, so be it."
Joseph Nash, an independent candidate, said the problem isn't with students' intelligence, but their motivation.
He thinks mandatory school uniforms will help improve academic performance. "Uniforms will install a sense of discipline in students and allow for less distractions due to the daily `fashion show' that now takes place," he said.
Although some residents believe schools should put more emphasis on basics, they also complain that students in some nonmagnet schools are being shortchanged in computers and technology.
Geneva Johnson said she has grandchildren in the eighth grade who have not had computer work. "This is the computer age, and I think my grandchildren have lost a lot by not having the experience with the computer."
School officials acknowledge that nonmagnet schools don't have as many computers, but they say they are trying to allocate more local money to them.
The magnet schools received so much federal money for technology that it will take several years for other schools to catch up, one official said.
Jones, the teacher, is also concerned that the opportunities are not the same for children at all schools. Because of demographic and economic factors, Crystal Spring doesn't qualify for some programs found in other schools, but it still needs them because many children would benefit from them, she said.
Some residents also believe the schools need smaller classes, particularly in the early elementary grades.
Kermit Salyer said he did a semester of student teaching in Roanoke in the first grade, and there were 24 children in the class. "It was nearly impossible, 24 for one person to handle."
Steven Higgs, a lawyer and business owner with a kindergartner in school, said the city doesn't have enough teachers and classrooms.
Roanoke has reduced class size in recent years, particularly in schools with large numbers of students receiving free or reduced-priced lunches, because the state has provided about $1 million a year for more teachers in these schools.
The maximum class size for kindergarten through the third grade has been lowered to 18 children in schools where more than 50 percent of the children receive free or reduced-priced lunches. It is 20 in schools where the percentage is between 25 and 50.
The average class size in Roanoke's elementary schools is 18 children - well below the state limit of 25 to a class, school officials said.
Several council candidates said they would vote to hire more teachers to lower class sizes and would support funds to provide planning periods for teachers in elementary schools.
But Alvin Nash said school administrators and the School Board would have to make a strong case before he could vote for more teachers and planning periods.
"My instincts tell me this is more of an internal policy issue; and unless there are unusual circumstances, I do not think City Council should support the School Board," he said.
Some residents have complained that the city's vocational education program is outdated and isn't preparing students for today's job market.
"The school system is not giving them what it should be. It's ancient, it's prehistoric, what they're teaching them," said Ken Stockton. "They're teaching them stuff in the '50s that's obsolete today."
But school officials said they're trying to prepare students by replacing many traditional vocational education programs with technology labs and computers that provides students with skills they need.
Nelson Harris, who is running for the two-year seat, said enrollment in vocational courses is up and the schools have added health-occupation courses.
Green said the schools should teach students that vocational education is "honorable" and suggested Roanoke might consider a vocational school downtown.
A good vocational-education program is the key to reducing the absentee, truancy and drop-out rates, Artis said.
Almost all candidates support the School Board's plan to raise teacher salaries to the national average in three years. Joseph Nash favors an even bigger raise. "Teacher pay should not only be brought up to the national average," he said, "but I would like to see it exceed the average."
LENGTH: Long : 220 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PAUL L. NEWBY II/Staff. Ashley Hampton, 12, produces herby CNBassignment the old-fashioned way, using the blackboard and a piece
of chalk. 2. While using the Skillbanks program at William Ruffner,
Kereem Waller, 13, gets some help from his teacher, Cindy Delp. 3.
Al-Sheriffs Mahoney, 13, rtackles his Skillbanks math assignment at
William Ruffner Middle School. Parents and candidates for City
Council want the schools to present a balance of technology and
basics. (headshots) 4. Geneva Johnson. 5.. Mike Rhodes. 6. Tom
Schroeder. 7. Ken Stockton. 8. Ernest Reynolds. 9. Susan Wadsworth.
10. Deborah Jones. 11. Rodney Lewis. color. Graphic: Chart: Join the
Debate. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CITY COUNCIL MAYOR