THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509210418
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID REED, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Democratic candidates announced details Wednesday of their plan to improve education, the rallying cry they're counting on to maintain control of the General Assembly.
Their equation, ``Good Schools equals Good Jobs,'' adds up this way:
Spend $200 million for higher education over the next two years to help make up for the $400 million that's been cut from colleges during the past four years of a recession.
Spend $40 million to make sure there is a computer in each of the state's 50,500 public classrooms by the year 2000.
Allocate $32 million to reduce class sizes in grades K-3 to a maximum of 22 children.
Provide more than $3 million in grants for schools that devise ways to make their students safer.
House Majority Leader Richard C. Cranwell of Vinton is leading a campaign tour in a rented yellow school bus that began in far southwest Virginia and will visit 17 localities in 10 days.
The bus is symbolic but not very practical. The tour was running late Wednesday, so Cranwell got into a car on the last leg of the trip to get to Blacksburg faster. When the bus pulled up in front of the television cameras, the seats were empty. The tour's participants will vary by region.
Despite the empty bus, education is expected to be one of the major issues in the Nov. 7 General Assembly elections. Republicans' own polling data indicate the party is vulnerable on the issue.
Democratic candidates have told the party leadership that education is the top priority of voters, and they wanted to develop a concrete program for improving schools, party spokeswoman Gail Nardi said. Candidates held a conference call a few months ago to begin developing the plan, and letters have been sent back and forth to fill in the details, she said.
Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer Jr. said in Richmond that Democratic candidates were not asked to sign onto the education platform, the way Republicans asked candidates to sign their seven-point pledge outlined Wednesday. Beyer said such a pledge was unnecessary.
``What we are offering goes to the core of what we believe as Democrats,'' Beyer said. ``I'd be stunned if there was a Democratic candidate who doesn't support this.''
But Beyer denied that Democrats are building their whole campaign on education, saying the election is seven weeks away, and they are focusing on education for the next week and a half.
While Democrats were quick Wednesday to criticize the GOP's statewide campaign ``pledge,'' Republicans had no immediate response to the Democrats' education plan - although in the past Allen has stressed that the key to better schools is tougher academics, not necessarily more money. MEMO: Landmark News service contributed to the report.<
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS by CNB