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

DATE: MONDAY, February 10, 1992                   TAG: 9202100182
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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CLASSES

ON THE same day last week that the Virginia House of Delegates was advancing a bill to allow elected school boards (without, of course, granting them taxing authority), a state Senate committee was striking another blow for educational quality. It turned back the pernicious effort of Sen. Bo Trumbo, Republican of Fincastle, to allow schools to - shudder - open before Labor Day.

No go, Bo; we can't have any local districts messing around with an earlier start to the school year. It might cut into the valuable summertime experience their students gain as fast-food burger-flippers and amusement-park ticket-takers.

Why, repeal the after-Labor Day mandate, and pretty soon a few localities might get ideas about making the school year longer. That by itself would cost money.

And as the kids learn more, more of 'em might be ready and willing to continue their education at a college or in a technical curriculum. Talk about costing the taxpayers a bundle!

Who needs more engineers and scientists and teachers and doctors and computer programmers and high-tech mechanics and linguists and assorted other overeducated trash?

That stuff's for foreigners, like the Germans and the Japanese, who don't understand the manual-work ethic.

Doesn't Bo know? What Virginia needs is unskilled labor. Otherwise, who'll be around to work for the Germans, Japanese, etc.?

The legislature in its wisdom has provided for our children. The assembly's cry: Summer jobs forever!

Or at least through Labor Day.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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