Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 28, 1993 TAG: 9301280371
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LINDA S. IVES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WHERE'S PUBLIC OUTCRY ON REAL ISSUES?
THE ATTENDANCE at the Dec. 14 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and the Jan. 5 meeting of the Montgomery County School Board totaled more than 1,300.In my capacity as president of the Montgomery County Education Association, I attend almost every School Board meeting and also frequent meetings of the Board of Supervisors. The usual attendance at these meetings rarely exceeds 20 souls.
Personally, I am disconcerted that so much public interest has been generated over an issue of nomenclature. For a number of years, the school calendar has called the time that was traditionally Christmas holidays "winter break." Like most others, I have accepted this label as an indication of the School Board's effort to maintain a level of respect and tolerance for all religious creeds. I find it confusing that an action that so clearly embraces the ideals of our Constitution could be so grossly misconstrued by so many.
Nevertheless, I must admire the level of conviction and determination demonstrated by such a large segment of my community over this issue. Citing Scripture and invoking every icon and symbol known to Americans, advocates on both sides of this issue have made their preferences known in every available forum. This controversy has spawned an impressive degree of citizen participation.
What troubles me is not that so many people would challenge the motives of the School Board, but rather the highly selective nature of how this community chooses its crusades.
If one believes that school vacations should retain the names of the Christian celebrations with which they coincide, that's fine. However, where were 1,300 passionate citizens when the School Board last wrestled with the problems of educating pregnant teen-agers or children who come to school because school is the only place they can receive regular meals?
If one believes that school vacations should have nonsectarian names to reflect the nonsectarian role of the public schools, that's great, too. However, where were 1,300 dedicated members of the community when parents and teachers were concerned about dropouts and classrooms without enough books?
There is no shortage of real and pressing issues facing public education today. A person looking for a cause doesn't have to look very far from the schoolhouse door - take curriculum reform, or funding for essential supplies and equipment, or violence in schools, or time for teachers to plan and research, or providing for students with special needs, or motivating children to read, or keeping children away from drugs. The list is seemingly endless.
In Virginia, we spend $17,000 a year on a prisoner in the penal system while spending $4,390 a year on a student in the school system. If communities would only focus occasionally on some of the education issues listed above with the same determination and zeal as have the 1,300 Montgomery County citizens who care so much about the names of holidays, perhaps we might begin to understand the terrible irony of that statistic.