THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 23, 1995 TAG: 9506220041
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
If someone from Germany says our workers are not properly prepared for the work force, then Governor Allen should listen. The Germans are experts in work-force education; many companies in Germany are known for high quality and customer satisfaction. Governor Allen's turning down Goals 2000 funds may add to Virginia's ``undertrained'' problem.
Having national standards for education may be good. The federal government needs to be very careful in the wording. The passage of the Educate America Act in March 1994 is a step in the right direction.
Section 102 of the act basically states that all children will start school ready to learn and that school will be safe and drug-free; the courses will be very challenging and graduation will be 90 percent, minimum; the gap in the graduation rates between American students from minority backgrounds and their nonminority counterparts will be eliminated; and parents, teachers and local businesses are needed to help make Goals 2000 work.
Section 319 of the act states ``control of education is reserved to the local school systems.''
There is nothing wrong with these goals! The federal government is not telling the states how to do their job; it merely asks that we set goals to make our people more competitive in the work force.
Many of us know where we need to go, but the discussion really gets going when ``how'' is discussed. Goals 2000 points us in the right direction. It's up to us how we get there.
VICTOR REVERON
Virginia Beach, June 13, 1995 by CNB