THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140089
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
The association which represents all 820 of the state's local school board members is revealing a rift as a new breed of public school conservatives joins the call for tuition tax credits and vouchers.
About 100 local board members - many of them elected in the past two years - have come together in the past month to push a conservative agenda that includes tuition tax credits and vouchers. During a meeting last month of the North Carolina School Boards Association, the group announced itself as the association's Conservative Caucus.
``If the school boards association intends to remain a statewide organization, they are going to have to acknowledge that conservatives are now a big part of North Carolina's local schools,'' said Jane Goins, a member of the Forsyth County Board of Education in Winston-Salem. ``We have arrived, and we are here to stay.''
The group brushes aside claims that allowing parents to use public money to offset private school tuition could seriously damage public schools. It is asking the association to reverse its opposition to school choice.
In addition, the group wants the association to lobby for such proposals as educating about abstinence until marriage, character education, the teaching of phonics and an emphasis on academic excellence instead of self-esteem.
``But the big issue here is going to be school choice,'' said Timothy Goff, a Catawba County school board member and chairman of the group. ``If you want to find the dividing line between conservatives and those who aren't conservative, it is going to be school choice.''
School choice - which would allow parents to use public money for private school tuition - has enjoyed a rebirth since the 1994 elections. Lawmakers on both sides of the issue say some type of school choice bill is only a few votes short of winning approval in the state General Assembly. It also has regained popularity nationwide.
The bill with the most support in North Carolina would provide parents with a tax credit to help offset private school tuition. The idea is volatile.
When it looked like the state House might approve a bill last year involving tax credits, Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. quickly brought together opponents from both parties. The chief lobbyist for the state's largest teachers group - the North Carolina Association of Educators - also has vowed to ``lie down in the street before we let one dime of public money go to private schools.''
Many groups are gearing up for a big fight when the General Assembly reconvenes next year.
``The idea is getting more attention than many of us expected,'' said Bob Douglas, an Asheville business executive and member of the State Board of Education. ``Philosophically, it represents an entirely different way of running the schools. It puts the preferences of the consumer ahead of the idea that public education is there to benefit the community as a whole.''
School boards association director Ed Dunlap said he is aware of the growing role of conservative board members, but he thinks the association founded in 1937 still represents the majority view of school board members.
``I do not fear the democratic process,'' Dunlap said. ``Our policies are determined by the majority, and that's how we decide our positions.'' by CNB