DATE: Monday, October 6, 1997               TAG: 9710030042

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

HIGHER EDUCATION INVESTMENT NEEDED

A group of Virginia business leaders are saying what the two men running for the state's highest office are not.

It has been more than eight years since a governor made a major new investment in the educational and transportation infrastructure of the state. Virginia will suffer if we wait another four years.

The Virginia Business Higher Education Council focuses on state colleges and universities in a 20-page document issued this week. They make the case for $910 million in additional higher education spending over the next two years.

Not, as Council Chairman John T. Hazel emphasized, over three, four or five years. But in the next biennium.

The business leaders could just as easily have laid out a case for massive new investments in road building and public school construction. While individuals might quibble over exact price tags, no one disputes that needs are in the multibillion-dollar range.

One message of this year's gubernatorial campaign is that reducing the onerous personal property tax on cars and trucks is a higher priority than new investments in higher education.

There is no question that the car tax, a mainstay of local governments, is burdensome and unpopular. So taxpayers will be tempted to dismiss the Business Council's arguments as sky-is-falling rhetoric. After all, both the University of Virginia and William & Mary recently were highly ranked among public colleges in a prominent national poll.

But Council members know the difference between riding on reputation and making the investments that ensure future, as well as current, success. Their goal is a first-class university system, not a merely ``adequate'' one.

The return they expect is nothing less than economic prosperity. A broadly educated citizenry, not one divided into haves and have-nots, is far more likely to attract and keep the businesses that will make Virginia a global competitor in the 21st century, they say.

Specific spending proposals include:

Boost faculty salaries to 60 percent of the national average for each institution's peer group. That has long been the state goal, but most institutions have slipped in recent years. In some cases, private funds are being used to keep salaries competitive.

Increase student financial aid. Current spending meets 35 percent of need. The business council would improve that figure to 50 percent.

Upgrade technology and related equipment to provide ``interactive, anytime, any place instruction.'' That, they say, is the wave of the future and the way to offer education to all.

Tackle a deferred maintenance backlog on buildings expected to top $1 billion by 2,003.

Some members of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council are William Fricks, president and chief executive officer of Newport News Shipbuilding; David Goode, chairman and CEO of Norfolk Southern Corp.; Leonard Strelitz, president of Haynes Furniture Co.; James Babcock, chairman and CEO of First Virginia Bank of Tidewater; Frank Batten Sr., chairman of Landmark Communications; and Joshua Darden Jr., president of Darden Properties.

They aren't infallible, but they didn't get where they are by wasting money. Collectively, they know the importance of making wise investments. With one voice, they are warning that Virginia needs to invest in its future. The state's politicians and voters should listen.

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