ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 1996 TAG: 9607170036
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
LET'S THINK a bit before shelling out federal dollars indiscriminately to build and repair public school buildings.
There's no question that many of the nation's schools are aging and crumbling, prompting the Clinton administration to propose dedicating $5 billion for their repair and replacement. The superintendent of schools in Roanoke County - a relatively affluent place - estimates $120 million will be needed for improvements over five to 10 years in that district alone.
Nor is there any question that, compared to some other federal spending priorities, money for schools would be well spent. Hard to say a word against it without sounding hostile or, at best, indifferent to the critical task of educating future generations.
But why spend billions of federal dollars - of which there already are too few to pay for current commitments - on a new program that is and should remain the responsibility of localities and states?
Sure, the feds have a role to play, with such programs as Goals 2000, in trying to establish some level of academic standards that students will have achieved if they graduate from high school anywhere in the United States. In a mobile and diverse society, employers and communities need assurance that young adults will have a minimum set of skills and a common understanding of the nation's government and principles.
Certainly, adequate facilities updated for the computer age are needed to offer youngsters these skills and prepare them for today's work world. In addition, the federal government's ability to redistribute money across political boundaries can give a boost to schools in poverty-stricken localities - a vital basis for the promise of equal opportunity, now more violated than guaranteed.
Even so, the same people who pay state and local taxes can spend them quite well, on the projects they know they need, without sending the money first for handling in Washington.
School disparities among localities with vastly different tax bases could be better addressed by state governments. States, including Virginia, need to reduce the reliance of school funding on local property taxes. But the states' failure to sufficiently fight funding disparity is their fault, not the federal government's.
Renovation or replacement of aging, outmoded schools ought to get higher priority than it now gets. If the federal government extends its reach to help because a president seeking a second term is making promises left and right, local districts would be foolish not to seek a share of the largess.
But a new federal program is no substitute for a Roanoke County, for example, stepping up to pay for the school construction and maintenance that the county's residents and the county's future require.
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