DATE: Wednesday, October 29, 1997           TAG: 9710290611

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: DECISION 97

SOURCE: BY NIA NGINA MEEKS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   96 lines

AT ISSUE: EDUCATION FUNDING NSU PROF IS WORRIED THAT LOWER FUNDING WILL LEAVE SOME CHILDREN BEHIND

Emeka Okoli is a man who values public schools. The variety and backgrounds of students that attend make it a true reflection of life and society.

``If they don't survive in the public schools, they can't survive anywhere,'' said Okoli, a mass communications professor at Norfolk State University.

That's why his five sons - ages 8 to 16 - attend public schools in Virginia Beach, where they live.

Still, he's not so sure that the state values public education.

``If the state has money to build prisons, it has money to fund education,'' Okoli said. ``I'm uncomfortable with all the jails being built. It's just like the gas chambers. I don't believe the state does not have money for education. If we can't fund them now, we might as well shut down and go home.''

He adds that it's not the responsibility of the parents to foot the education bill - beyond the taxes they pay. Fund-raisers should be for luxuries, not the basics. Nor does that responsibility fall in the lap of corporate America.

Two of his sons, 16-year-old Chimbuoyim and 15-year-old Chukwuebuka, attend Salem High School, the first high school in South Hampton Roads with a corporate sponsor, Pennzoil. The company supplied money for the school's basketball program in exchange for its name and image on programs, the scorer's table and a gym sign.

``I get uneasy having corporate sponsorship,'' Okoli said. ``It's a way of perpetuating inequality.''

Inequality remains the major hurdle responsible parents face, he said. Even if parents are on top of the homework, go to the PTA meetings, pay attention to their child's behavior, students get the short end of the pencil if their schools aren't funded on equal levels. Okoli doesn't believe that schools are funded equally.

He sees the schools surrounding Norfolk State. Then he looks at schools in other parts of Norfolk and shakes his head. Like night and day. He sees the same disparity in Virginia Beach. Fewer computers, lack of supplies, overcrowded classes.

``It makes me think that some individuals are doomed to be under the poverty line, especially minority neighborhoods,'' Okoli said. ``Twenty or 30 years from now, how much information you have will define the rich and poor. Technology is the basis for establishing that ranking. Minority neighborhood schools subtly are denied basic access to technology.''

Okoli wants straight solutions to these issues. He hasn't been able to detect any from the campaign ads so far.

``I have problems with politicians,'' he said. ``Politicians are packaged like any product that is out.''

For his kids' sake, Okoli will wade through the muck to find as close to a political diamond as he can.

``The center of my being is my kids,'' Okoli said. ``They are my heroes.'' ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN

The Virginian-Pilot

Emeka Okoli...

Beyer

Gilmore

CANDIDATES RESPOND

School budgets across the state are stretched and strapped. Parents

are stepping in to ante up - sell stuff, write checks for student

fees, bring in corporate sponsors - to build playgrounds, buy

computers, and pay for enrichment opportunities that many parents

would define as basic equipment and services. ``Parental

involvement'' in some schools means their incomes and fund-raising

savvy. Why can't the state help more so that public dollars fully

fund public education?

Beyer

I will fight to give Virginia's public schools the resources they

need to operate efficiently and make our schools the best in the

country. We have made a difference in putting more computers in

classes, increasing preschool opportunities for at-risk 4-year-olds,

reducing class sizes by putting more teachers in our elementary

schools and providing more remedial help for students so that they

can meet the high standards we set. We need to continue these

efforts.

Gilmore

We appreciate the support parents offer to their children's

schools. I believe Virginia should spend more money on public

education in the years to come. I will spend over $1 billion more on

Virginia's public schools over the next four years. I do not

believe, however, that we should just blindly throw money at our

schools. Funding must be tied to initiatives, such as hiring 4,000

more teachers, to make our schools the highest quality and safest

schools in the nation. A strong commitment to the Literary Fund for

school construction also will be a hallmark of my administration. KEYWORDS: ISSUES CANDIDATES GUBERNATORIAL RACE

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