THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9509010006
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Your editorial ``A warning for Allen'' (Aug. 25) comments on Governor Allen's taking credit for his economic-development successes and then blames him for not supporting higher education. Facts don't seem to make their way into your editorial attacks.
It is true that Virginia's recent success in attracting billions of dollars in new investment, like TWA and Motorola, is influenced by the quality of our education system, both higher education and K-12. However, the record shows that Governor Allen recognizes that and has done far more than his predecessors to support quality higher education in Virginia. For example, it was Governor Allen who proposed funding for a new engineering school at Virginia Commonwealth University, which news reports indicated was crucial to obtaining the commitment from Motorola to make its huge investment in Virginia.
Far from cutting higher education, Allen has successfully reversed the slash-and-burn budgeting of the early 1990s. Budgeting that resulted in skyrocketing tuitions for Virginia college students.
Not only was funding actually increased for colleges by Governor Allen compared with his predecessor, Doug Wilder, but Governor Allen insisted on tuition being capped at the rate of inflation so that students would be protected from the double-digit tuition increases they experienced in the early 1990s.
But rather than simply throwing more money at colleges and thinking that equals better education, Governor Allen has insisted that the colleges and universities cut out the bureaucratic bloat and do away with silly programs.
As a businessman, I want to support higher education, but I do not want my tax dollars used to hire more college bureaucrats and other nonteaching personnel. Governor Allen has insisted that all Virginia universities restructure so that funds are shifted from bloated administrative staffs and nonessential programs to core academic activities.
No one knows better than those of us in the business community how important Virginia's colleges are to our economy. But accountability must come with those dollars, and I applaud Governor Allen for insisting on that.
FRANK DOCZI
Virginia Beach, Aug. 25, 1995 by CNB