ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 21, 1997 TAG: 9701210101
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: General Assembly Notebook
DATELINE: RICHMOND
Opposition to the idea of charter schools in Virginia was loud and long Monday during a public hearing before the House Education Committee.
Loudest and longest were representatives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in town on Lee-Jackson-King Day for their annual lobbying day.
Opposition also came from groups representing school boards and superintendents. They spoke against the concept mostly on questions of need and liability.
But speaker after speaker from NAACP chapters around the state voiced broader concerns that public schools freed from some state policies and regulations would create a separate-and-unequal system, split by race and economics. If there's a problem with public schools, fix it, they said.
"If you have a house, and your house is broken, you don't take your money and build another house," said Garrison Hunter, a senior at Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk and an officer in an NAACP youth council.
"Yes, we need changes," said March Cromuel Jr., president of the Chesapeake branch of the NAACP. "But the changes we need are to change the public schools to the best public school system we can make."
If parents want to send their children to "private schools," then they should use their own money. "Don't use my tax dollars," he said.
Paul Gillis, president of the state NAACP, was more pointed. "If you vote for this, we're going to come after you," he told committee members to approving shouts from backers wearing "NAACP - We Vote" stickers.
Supporters of allowing charter schools weren't as numerous, but just as fervent. They included the Virginia Congress of Parents and Teachers, Portsmouth Public Schools and some parents.
The bill's sponsor for the fourth straight year, Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News, figured his committee was split evenly, 11-11, going into Friday's scheduled vote.
"It's unfortunate that race has been injected into this," he said after the hearing. "This bill does not create a second school system. Why don't we say that the Governor's Schools create a second system?
"What we're trying to do is provide an alternative program."
Heartfelt positions notwithstanding, participants gave the many young people in the hearing room a lesson in public life. Former Senate candidate Dimitrios Rerras and Cromuel, opponents on the issue, sat seat-by-seat during the hearing, nodding respectfully to each other after Cromuel's vigorous speech.
Also Monday
The General Assembly has become so tough on crime that the Senate voted 37-1 for a bill that would make it illegal to wear body armor while committing a felony.
The lone voter against the bill, Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle, said the law wouldn't work.
"I don't know how many potential felons read the Code before committing their act, but I doubt very many," Trumbo said.
"I don't understand what the purpose of this bill is. If it's a deterrent bill, I think the alternative - death - would be far worse."
* The Senate voted 30-8 to exempt state prisoners from the Freedom of Information Act, a bill designed to reduce the paperwork costs of frivolous requests inmates make for state documents.
Spotsylvania Sen. Edward Houck was one of the few opponents, arguing that freedom to collect information is a fundamental right, even for inmates. Frivolous requests already are discouraged by the costs of copying and research allowed in the law, the Democrat said.
"I know it's never expedient to speak here on the floor about incarcerated individuals in anything less than a passionate, bloodthirsty sense, but to me the answer is already in there," he said.
* Del. Robert Tata, R-Virginia Beach, has introduced legislation that would require the Lottery Department to print a toll-free phone number for an organization that counsels gambling addicts.
The anti-gambling organization would refer Virginia callers to counseling services available near their homes.
Of the 38 states that have lotteries, 14 print toll-free gambling counseling numbers either on the backs of tickets, ticket machines or brochures.
The House gave preliminary approval to Tata's bill Monday; a final vote is expected today.
* Legislators had no trouble finding ways to spend a budget surplus of nearly $300 million. Delegates submitted 850 amendments totaling $1.2 billion. The Senate was equally eager to spend, proposing 654 budget amendments totaling $1.2 billion.
Noticed and noted
Just before the noon session, Virginia Citizens with Mental Disabilities lined up on both sides of the walkway that lawmakers use to reach the Capitol.
Wearing lapel buttons bearing messages such as "Head Injuries: A Lifelong Challenge" and "Make Waves Virginia" and holding placards begging "No Cuts" and "Support Mental Health Services," they heard a few short speeches by Del. Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke, among others.
The activists' clear message: We want our share of the budget surplus.
- Matt Bowers, Warren Fiske, Robert Little and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB