THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996                 TAG: 9603230020
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   30 lines

IN SUPPORT OF ELECTED SCHOOL BOARDS

I say nonsense to ``Scrap the elected (school) board'' (editorial, March 8). The present board, composed of six newly elected and five appointed members, is hardly a true test of democracy in action.

Granted, the board members were led down the primrose path by school administrators and must share, by default, some of the blame for the Virginia Beach school-system fiasco. But to condemn the election process is to throw out the baby with the bath water.

Sometimes it takes the democratic process a while to sort out its problems. The upcoming May 7 election has numerous well-qualified and dedicated citizens who will provide the necessary oversight needed to get the school system back under control.

Furthermore, the establishment of the one-man, one-vote principle, by restructuring our current unequal district voter representation in Virginia Beach, will also benefit the democratic process. You can be sure that Thomas Jefferson would be in complete agreement with me on these issues.

JAMES A. MULLIGAN

Virginia Beach, March 11, 1996 by CNB