THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505160144
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Six panelists representing the city's schools and the Norfolk Republican Party last week debated how to improve public education, reaching agreement that crowded classrooms and disruptive kids are two of the biggest obstacles.
They also agreed that money is key to many problems facing schools, and that parents must be willing to play a larger role in educating their kids.
The discussion, sponsored by the local GOP's public policy committee, also touched on teacher dress codes, alternative education and academic standards. Ellen B. Beamon, a retired educator and chairwoman of the GOP committee, said the debate at Granby High is the first of what she hopes will be many to discuss education.
``This is a nonpartisan thing, but education is one of the things the Republican Party is interested in,'' Beamon said. ``We want to create a dialogue and an opportunity to share ideas.''
The GOP committee selected the participants. They were: Marian Flickinger, president of the Norfolk Federation of Teachers; Robert F. Williams, vice chairman of the School Board; Pamela Hoffler-Riddick, principal of Ruffner Middle School; Bill Thomas, an economist who specializes in urban issues; Phyllis Vernon, a private educational consultant; and Forest P. Clay, a retired physics professor at Old Dominion University.
Discipline, or the lack of it, was at the top of the list of concerns.
``I think we need a zero-tolerance level,'' Flickinger said.
More money is needed for alternative programs for kids who can't make it in regular schools, the panelists said. Thomas held the most extreme view: Put disruptive kids in reform school.
Thomas criticized schools for catering to the lowest common denominator, shortchanging the smartest students. Educators endorse ``main-streaming the worst kids in with the bright kids without the least regard that you're harming the very brightest,'' he said.
Thomas said educators are too quick to blame lackluster academic performance on the city's high percentage of poverty.
``It may sound cruel, but I don't think poverty has anything to do with somebody's willingness to learn,'' said Thomas, who served on Gov. George Allen's commission on welfare reform.
Responding to a question, Flickinger said teachers are often pressured by administrators to pass kids from grade to grade, even if they have not mastered material, to avoid having over-age students, which makes a school look bad.
``It's important for teachers to stand up for standards that are needed, and we encourage that,'' Flickinger said. ``However, it's not always encouraged by the powers that be.''
Clay said a way to force improvement in public schools is to cut off public funds for remedial courses in college. In 1992-93, according to a report released last year by the State Council of Higher Education, Virginia spent about $26 million for remediation in math, English or reading. About $23 million went to community colleges.
``The state shouldn't subsidize any student to take a course more than once,'' Clay said.
Slightly more than 1 in 3 of Norfolk's 1993 grads who enrolled as freshmen in state-supported colleges needed remedial courses, the report showed. Statewide, the average was 26 percent.
Clay also argued for an eight-hour school day.
``Kids over 14 should be considered adults, as they are in Europe,'' Clay said. ``School should be treated as a full-time job.''
Vernon applauded Ruffner's Hoffler-Riddick for her effort to establish a teacher dress code.
``Students need quality role models,'' Vernon said.
Flickinger also praised Hoffler-Riddick for involving teachers and said she supported professional dress. But the detailed written policy the school adopted, she said, was unneeded and ``sets up the chance for abuse by management.''
Hoffler-Riddick said: ``I believe that if you have no problem with professional dress, there should be no problem with putting it in writing.'' by CNB