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

DATE: SATURDAY, December 18, 1993                   TAG: 9312180108
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

ANNENBERG PLEDGES $500 MILLION TO REVIVE SCHOOLS, CURB VIOLENCE

Walter Annenberg pledged $500 million Friday to improve public education and stem the violence eroding the nation's schools. At a White House ceremony, he challenged others to join him, saying, "At this point, I can't see any other way to guarantee our nation's future."

President Clinton said Annenberg's gift - the largest ever toward public education - "could not have come at a better time." He said the money will help promote a "standard of excellence" that can be adapted school by school around the country.

"Nearly every problem has been solved by somebody, somewhere," Clinton said, calling for greater coordination to help replicate programs that already have been found to work.

Annenberg said he was deeply troubled by school violence and concerned that if it continues unabated, it will have a devastating impact on American life.

"We must ask ourselves whether improving education will halt the violence," he said. "If anyone can think of a better way, we may have to try that. But the way I see this tragedy, education is the most wholesome and effective approach."

by CNB