Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992 TAG: 9202130525
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY L. GARLAND given the option of approving elected school boards
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
SOMETIMES A COMMON-SENSE NOTION GENERAL ASSEMBLY OCCASIONALLY GETS THINGS
IT'S A BELIEF long held that when members of the legislature are permitted votes relatively free of political pressure, they will generally show good common sense.One example of an un-free vote was the overwhelming support given in the House of Delegates to a bill allowing localities to opt for elected school boards that would have no say in setting local tax rates or even final judgment on levels of school funding.
Voters tell pollsters they're for elected boards, and pollsters pass this information along to the politicians who hired them. But a horseback opinion uttered in haste is not necessarily a settled judgment. The same thing happens when pollsters ask people if they favor raising taxes for this or that noble endeavor. When real voters face real voting machines, tax increases that are dependent upon public concurrence generally fail.
The school-boards issue is apparently moot for this session of the General Assembly. The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections voted to kill or hold over all such bills until 1993, when a proposal to amend the state constitution to allow elected boards with full fiscal authority may see the light of day.
Carrying that constitutional amendment over a year does no harm, since it would have to be approved by another session of the legislature following the 1993 elections. Considering the tempest that has swirled around this question for some years now, it is right and proper that voters be It will be instructive to see if the Brickleyites allow their names to be associated with a constitutional amendment granting elected boards full fiscal power. My guess is they will not be so hot to identify themselves with a measure contemplating a new and powerful taxing authority. If they oppose it, they will be exposed for what they are: opportunists who don't care a rap for education beyond its good politics. That, at least, will be productive of the greater sanity of this commonwealth.
One thing countering notions of sanity has been the fantastic success of lottomania. As retail sales actually decline in many parts of Virginia, the state lottery prospers beyond the dreams of its proponents. The "voluntary" tax as pitched by former Del. Billy O'Brien of Virginia Beach is working.
What hasn't worked is pari-mutuel betting. State voters gave it the nod in 1988, and several localities laid out the welcome mat. But no group has thus far stepped forward with the millions in private funds required to make it work.
Now comes a proposal to allow a track to locate as many as six off-site betting parlors linked by television to the real event. The consent of local voters would be required. This has prospered in the House of Delegates and deserves to pass.
With the state promoting gambling in every way it can devise, there can be no sensible objection to allowing private enterprise to get into the act. An honest track will at least give more of the take back to the players than our fabled lottery - and more fun too!
It's wonderful when an ideology gets hoist on its own petard. The Virginia Education Association is normally avid for additional rules and regulations. Now they're asking for relief from a favorite liberal cause of a few years ago, and they deserve to get it.
A teacher in our society is well-placed to be on the receiving end of charges of physical or sexual abuse of pupils. A charge, once made, can be a blot on the reputation of a dedicated teacher that years will not erase. Under current law, apparently, such charges remain in the files of social-service agencies even if no formal action is taken. The teachers are asking that such accusations be referred promptly to local commonwealth's attorneys for prosecution or expungement.
The legislature appears to be siding with the teachers. Given the VEA's clout, this is hardly a "free" vote. But it is an instance where the General Assembly must defy icons of popular culture to balance an issue that has run too far in one direction.
The same can be said for the assembly's good sense in placing on hold more stringent regulations upon those offering day care for children. I can't claim to know the details of the new child-care regs, but when I examined closely the regulations in effect more than a dozen years ago they were extremely tough. If faithfully enforced, they would have priced day care beyond the means of most working mothers and put many small operators out of business.
The legislature also acted wisely in deferring an experiment in privatizing the retail sale of hard spirits until a study can be made of all the ramifications of such a decision. The state ABC system is undoubtedly excessively bureaucratic and laden with unnecessary costs, but it has existed now for almost 60 years and represents a state investment of more than $100 million.
While its more than 1,300 employees could hardly be said to enjoy lavish compensation, it's probably true that when you take their wages and benefits together, they are making more than private retailers would happily provide. The principle of private ownership of liquor outlets is sound, but how we make the transition is a puzzle deserving the most careful study.
But with inviting self-service liquor stores now open in many places until 9 p.m. - and considering the state's own manic efforts to entice people to play the lottery - there's no longer any legitimate reason to forestall credit-card purchases at ABC stores. The bill allowing that revolutionary event should go forward even as the assembly ponders ending the state's monopoly.