THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 3, 1995 TAG: 9502030600
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Plans to form charter school systems around Virginia were officially put to rest for the year Thursday, silencing a debate some thought might dominate this year's legislative session.
The Senate Education and Health committee voted to refer the proposal to a one-year study, mirroring action taken last week by the House of Delegates.
``The concept was not rejected, so I'm encouraged by that,'' said Sen. J. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke, who sponsored the charter schools bill for Gov. George F. Allen and made it a personal mission for this year's assembly.
``As far as the details and how the charter schools would operate, some members didn't feel comfortable,'' Bell said. ``But a movement is still about. It's just going to take time.''
Bell said he expects Thursday's action also shelved plans to adopt a pilot charter school program in Portsmouth. Officials there had considered using the city as a test site, but Bell said he thinks that would require legislation.
When charter schools legislation was first introduced, it sparked a minifirestorm that some thought would last through the General Assembly session. If approved, the plan would have allowed local school districts to set up schools independent from the local school board.
Opposition, particularly from Democrats, threatened the measure so much that Bell said he felt lucky to have it tabled rather than killed outright. But Bell called it ``unfortunate and frustrating'' that he never got the chance to debate before the Senate what he considered his chief legislative offering.
Five delegates and four senators will be appointed to study charter schools, and Bell said he will request a seat on the panel.
``With all the talk about outcome-based education, which is very much a top-down approach, what interested me so much was that this was a bottom-up way of looking at education,'' Bell said.
``A month or two ago, there was a great deal of skepticism. Now, I think there's a general feeling that there's some merit to the concept.''
The Senate committee also blocked a perennial bill to require teenage girls to notify their parents before they get an abortion, but the issue could be revived before this year's legislative session ends.
Education and Health members voted 8-7 not to send a pair of parental notification bills to the full Senate.
Sen. Mark L. Earley, R-Chesapeake, a sponsor of one of the bills, argued that the measure is especially important this year because of recent violence at abortion clinics.
``Given that, it's all the more important that the parents of minor daughters be notified that their daughters will be in those kinds of clinics,'' Earley testified at a brief hearing Thursday.
Opponents of the bill argued that a parental notification requirement would force teenagers to go to surrounding states for abortions, and that some abusive parents might react violently to word that their daughter has decided to terminate a pregnancy.
``I don't think any teenager's relationship with their mother is strong enough to talk about these kinds of personal things,'' testified a 17-year-old girl who did not give her name.
Parental notification has failed repeatedly in the past, but one lawmaker said privately he might try to revive it again this year. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Sen. Mark L. Earley, R-Chesapeake, a sponsor of one parental
notification bill, said the measure is especially important this
year because of recent violence at abortion clinics.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY CHARTER SCHOOLS by CNB