ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997 TAG: 9701100092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
Republican legislators voiced hope Thursday that Gov. George Allen can reach an agreement with federal officials and accept about $8million in education money under the Goals 2000 program.
Virginia is the only state to refuse the money and has turned down more than $20million over the past few years. Allen has insisted the grant, aimed at helping states and localities improve public schools, comes with too many federal strings.
Democrats are hoping to make it a major issue in this fall's elections. The governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general's offices and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates will be on the ballot. Democrats have argued that Allen's refusal to accept the money suggests the party places more emphasis on conservative ideology than common sense.
At a news conference Thursday morning, leaders of the General Assembly's Republican caucus shied away from saying whether Allen should join the 49 other governors and immediately accept the money.
Instead, they simply voiced hope that Allen would succeed in ongoing negotiations with the U.S. Department of Education to obtain the money and exempt Virginia from requirements he finds onerous.
``I think it's pretty clear that all members of the General Assembly would like to accept the money, but the question is `under what conditions?''' said Sen. Jane Woods, R-Fairfax County, the caucus' education spokeswoman. ``What we have to do is reach some ground in the middle where we can accept the money under Virginia's conditions.''
Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, a Democrat, said Allen may be under pressure from fellow Republicans to seek a compromise and remove Goals 2000 as a potential issue this fall.
``My sense is that he's pinned himself in a corner and the governor is seeking a graceful way out of it,'' said Beyer, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor. ``If he can find a way to accept the money, I'm all for it. For the benefit of kids, I hope he works it out.''
The Allen administration insisted, however, that nothing has changed. "We're continuing to negotiate with the federal government," said Beverly Sgro, state secretary of education. "I can't tell you anything is imminent."
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB