
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 25, 1990                   TAG: 9003232097
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EDUCATION SHOULDN'T SUFFER IN HARD TIMES

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors is again faced with a very difficult decision. They must evaluate the county's need for services and then balance the cost of those services against the county's revenue.

The proposed budget for 1990-91 projects the necessity of increasing the real estate tax levy by 5 cents per $100 valuation. As usual, the school budget is the largest single budget item. As such, it represents the largest target for reduction.

In the face of bad economic conditions in the New River Valley, which are causing unprecedented layoffs and loss of jobs, it is tempting to encourage our county's leadership to "belt-tighten" and take the "meat-ax" to all budget items, including the school budget. However, if the New River Valley hopes to attract quality employers to replace the jobs being lost, we must demonstrate that we place a high value on our educational infrastructure. We must also show that we are willing to increase financial support of our educational system, even in the face of adversity.

Companies rank the quality of the local educational system at the top of their criteria when evaluating locations. This is important to them with respect to their ability to recruit and retain highly qualified professional personnel who place a great value on the education available to their children. A quality local educational system also is important to companies who need to recruit a well-educated work force. Successful companies compete in a global economy and win business based on technological leadership; this leadership depends on a well-trained and educated work force.

In our quest to encourage companies to locate in the New River Valley, we will be competing with localities across the country that have reputations for outstanding educational systems. In Virginia, we are competing with Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond. The state of Virginia is not going to tip the scales in our favor. Only aggressive, far-sighted local leadership and local financial commitment will result in our being the winner.

When local leaders are aggressively seeking new industry for the New River Valley and advocating construction of a new road link to Virginia Tech from Roanoke, and Virginia Tech is aggressively marketing its research park, support of educational funding is exactly the right thing to do.\ Joseph T. Colvin\ President\ Inland Motor\ Kollmorgen Corp.\ Radford

by CNB