THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9510010041
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
Oliver Mullins is a Virginia Beach father of two school-age kids and an administrator at Tidewater Tech, a vocational-technical school. His job often puts him in touch with people who lack the skills to earn a decent wage.
But his concerns about public education don't end when he leaves work. At home, he and his wife give their kids intensive tutoring because, at 7 and 10 years old, reading skills amount to an Everest they can't climb. He now wonders whether educators made reading a priority when his kids were younger.
Kay Corradino of Norfolk also has doubts about schools these days. She was startled when her 12-year-old son mentioned that he didn't know where Oregon is. Having to memorize such facts was pretty taxing when she was a kid, she recalled. Still, she says, such assignments gave her a solid foundation for more learning.
Deborah Puckett of Chesapeake grew frustrated as her two children progressed through school. They were forced into convenient molds, she said. Their creativity was a casualty.
In one way or another, these three parents are disappointed with public education. And they're not alone. They were among nearly 200 concerned parents, educators, senior citizens and activists who attended town meetings at Virginia Wesleyan College last week, kicking off a grass-roots project in which Hampton Roads citizens will meet weekly for the next seven weeks to formally discuss the quality of education and figure out what they can do to help improve it.
The Community Networking Association organized the ``Citizen Challenge: Education'' project, with financial support from The Virginian-Pilot.
The non-profit association, based in Virginia Beach, brings people together to study public matters. The project is unique because it invites people to consider important education issues outside official forums - where such discussions normally take place.
``A lot of times, citizens go to city council or school board meetings and speak, and then come away complaining: `I got to speak, but they didn't hear me,' said Stephanie Stetson, the association's executive director.
``What we're trying to do is get a variety of people talking with each other, not at each other; to share their ideas and concerns, and hopefully come up with things they care about collectively. By identifying those things, they will be better able to pose some potential solutions and see their own role in achieving any objectives.''
If everything falls into place, Stetson said, participants will learn to view themselves as actors - perhaps the most important actors - when it comes to getting the results they want for schoolchildren, neighbors, fellow Virginians. Their views and ideas will be compiled in a January report.
This coming week, participants will split up into about 25 neighborhood-based groups. The first of seven weekly topics: How should education be defined, and what constitutes a ``quality'' education?
Participants live in cities across the region. Eighteen percent are minorities; more than half are female. Most don't have kids in public schools; nearly half work in education.
In their comments and on surveys completed before and after the two Wesleyan sessions, participants said today's public education system has failed to deliver for too many children and can't compete internationally. They didn't offer concrete plans for reform or nail down what they wanted from public schools and how much they would sacrifice to get it.
Neither did they dwell on the stream of recent reports showing how poorly American students stack up in math, science and other subjects compared with foreign peers. From the four hours of discussion, it was clear that their views had been shaped by day-to-day experiences - what they saw in actual classrooms or in job interviews with prospective employees, for example.
Few spoke optimistically. But like Mullins, the Virginia Beach father, most are hopeful.
``I see the ads on TV that say, `Johnny can't read.' Well, (my daughter) can't read,'' he said. ``I sit with her and I teach her and I work with her. . skills, either. That concerns me. There's something missing. And I'd like to be a part of helping to fix it.''
The majority said public schools aren't performing as well as they did when they attended school. Some said today's schools can't be depended upon to teach basic skills, let alone skills needed for an increasingly high-tech world.
The participants also said:
Teachers are overburdened with paperwork and need more support and training.
Classes are overcrowded and unruly. Lessons sometimes are irrelevant to students' lives.
Schools need more money to help ``at-risk'' students achieve before academic failure sets in.
The participants called for tougher academic and disciplinary standards; efficient management; greater accountability; more high-tech resources; and a transformation in the way people view public education.
Without significant changes, the nation's democracy won't thrive in a global economy, they said. The winds of reform have influenced many schools for the better. Still, the basic structure often stays the same, they said.
``I would like to see our country continue as a major power,'' said Puckett, the Chesapeake mother. ``But the school systems are slowly eroding. Much of what's being done is still archaic. Pretty soon, we won't be able to compete as a country and our kids won't have the skills to function in the world. We need to change.''
Many said the community must share the responsibility to improve education.
Seventy-two percent of the participants said they would favor an approach that called for moving education ``beyond the school doors and into the community, where students can learn from many other resources.''
More adults, they said, must be persuaded to play bigger roles in the education of children and in public schools. And children, they said, must constantly be told that school is important, a place where everyone must be respected. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Oliver Mullins, Virginia Beach
Graphics
TO SIGN UP
It's not too late to get involved. All participants must
pre-register. This coming week is the last chance to do so. For
details, call 640-5555. Press 3535. Please state your name,
hometown, telephone number and the best time to reach you. A project
representative will contact you.
IMPROVING EDUCATION IN HAMPTON ROADS
How do we get the result we want?
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB