THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 5, 1995 TAG: 9508040013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
I have heard very little rationale for exactly how Goals 2000 will turn American youths into the drooling brain-dead masses that the opposition claims. Goals 2000 does not call for a complete socialization of education as some critics claim. It will not ``dumb down'' the gifted students; instead, it merely sets a minimum standard. Goals 2000 is designed to bring up the bottom without knocking down the top.
An analogy has been made to economics. Very seldom will one find someone who doesn't support liberal spending with conservative taxation, but under most circumstances, that just isn't feasible. Not so with education. Here we have the liberal ``spending'' (setting clear standards of core knowledge for the currently underachieving) blended with conservative ``taxation'' (advanced education well beyond the minimum is still available). It's the best of both worlds.
And in real rather than metaphorical terms, the opposition claims to be the protectors of the youth, refusing to let them be bought for a penny a day, but I submit that each single penny per student per day, when added up, reaches a substantial sum of money that can aid school budgets across the state.
Goals 2000 is no more about money than the presidency of the United States of America is about the president's salary. Goals 2000 is about students and about standards. It's about making plans, digging in, striving and succeeding. It's about putting Americans back on the top in mathematics and the sciences, decreasing the illiteracy rate; about learning from history so that we can anticipate and plan for the future; about helping America's youth learn to express their emotions through visual art, music and theater rather than with guns on the street.
VINCENT R. OLIVIERI JR.
Virginia Beach, July 18, 1995 by CNB