THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605030499
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WEEKSVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Carl G. Conner has been a pastor, an educator, an administrator, a journalist and a freelance writer.
He has published in more than two dozen magazines, preached in nearly 50 churches, taught at three colleges and studied abroad.
Conner likes to stay busy.
``I'm not the type of person that would be happy to sit down with one type of mundane thing in my life,'' Conner says. ``Every aspect of life contributes to the total of what you accomplish.''
Conner, whose wife teaches science at Pasquotank Elementary School, now wants to try his hand at public office. He is running for the at-large seat on the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Board of Education.
``I have the time,'' said Conner, who is retired from most of his vocations. ``I'm available. And I have a strong educational background.''
Conner wants to make sure Pasquotank County's studentsreceive a quality education which, he says, ``produces students that are learning and are able to go out in the community and apply themselves in professions and jobs.
``It is a program that turns out qualified citizens.''
The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools system is good, Conner said. But, ``there's never an excuse for the status quo.''
Conner has outlined his key proposals on a seven-point handout:
Enforce the code of student conduct; remove students who constantly disrupt classes and placing them in alternative or industrial schools.
Provide each teacher and student with a full range of textbooks that are complete and current.
Upgrade media centers by increasing the number of reference books and general readership volumes.
Increase the supplemental pay to reward teachers who remain in the teaching field.
Petition the state legislature to grant reasonable increases in teachers' salaries and reinstate the increment system.
Study and implement methods of decreasing the paperwork and load of committee work for teachers so they will have more time for teaching.
Improve communication between administrators and teachers, especially regarding discipline cases.
The district can beef up its textbook collection by buying more books, and fewer technology materials, with state textbook funds, Conner said.
Conner, who regularly uses the internet on his new Macintosh computer, said he supports technology in the classroom. But he thinks money for technology should come from grants, not from the book supply.
``I'm strongly in favor of technology,'' Conner said. ``But I don't think they ought to take the textbook money and put it into technology. . . . A student can't take a computer home with him.''
Conner said he was on a recent campaign stop when a girl asked him, `` `Mister, why can't we have textbooks to bring home to study from? I don't have anything to study from.'
``That's ridiculous.''
A lack of textbooks also creates extra work for teachers, who end up writing out lessons and copying pages from books, Conner said. ``In several cases, teachers are writing out homework that is already available in textbooks.''
Conner said the schools should try not to overburden their educators.
``The greatest asset that a school system has is its teachers,'' Conner said. ``We need to streamline what is required of teachers. . . . They need to cut back on committees and paperwork and give the teacher more time for teaching.''
Discipline is another area that the school board must concentrate on, Conner said. He is impressed with the student code of conduct, but he does not think it has been used properly.
``I do not feel it is being enforced as fully as it should be,'' Conner said. ``Teachers can't teach with constant disruption of their classes. It's cheating people who are interested in getting an education.''
During his campaign, Conner has attended several candidates' forums, appeared on radio broadcasts, spoken for civic groups and knocked on residents' doors.
``I'm staying busy, if that means anything,'' Conner said. ILLUSTRATION: CARL CONNER
Age: 68.
Home: Weeksville.
Occupation: Retired minister, educator and journalist; freelance
writer.
Education: Bachelor of science degree in English from East Carolina
University, graduate study at the University of Minnesota and in
Israel.
Memberships: Pastor for 27 years in North Carolina, Ohio and
Georgia; has had articles printed in 26 publications; has appeared
in ``Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and
Colleges,'' ``Who's Who in Public Relations'' and ``Who's who in the
Mid-West.''
Family: Wife: Violet. Two children and two grandchildren.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE CANDIDATE SCHOOL BOARD RACE by CNB