DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997                TAG: 9704130081

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   34 lines

GILMORE'S EDUCATION AGENDA TO INCLUDE PAY RAISE, SCHOOL SAFETY

Attorney General James S. Gilmore III, the presumed GOP nominee for governor, told Virginia teachers Saturday he will push for improved classroom safety and decreased class size.

Speaking briefly to the annual Virginia Education Association convention, Gilmore also promoted a scholarship plan that would enable better students to receive $2,000 college scholarships.

He gave no specifics about his plans. An aide said Gilmore will have more to say when he officially announces his candidacy later this month.

Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer Jr., the presumed Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Friday told the 1,200 teachers that if elected he would raise their salaries to bring them up to the national average. State teachers earn about $34,800, he said, while the national average is about $37,800.

The VEA's political action committee has backed Beyer in each of his two races for lieutenant governor and is expected to endorse him again.

Saturday, Gilmore received a polite reception from the teachers after VEA President Cheri James, introducing him, inadvertently referred to ``my fellow Democrats.'' She caught herself and corrected it to ``my fellow delegates.''

The VEA has about 55,000 members out of the 75,000 public school teachers in Virginia. Richard Pulley, the group's chief lobbyist, said about 40 percent identify themselves as Democrats and 23 percent as Republicans. The rest consider themselves independents.

Neither Gilmore nor Beyer face opposition for their respective party's nominations. KEYWORDS: GUBERNATORIAL RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES

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