ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: STEWARTSVILLE
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
THE 5TH DISTRICT CANDIDATES said the federal government could do more but added they would cut strings attached to any aid.
Matt Woodford doesn't have an English book to take home to study, or a government book for that matter. There's not enough to go around for all the students in his grade.
And that has the 14-year-old Staunton River High School freshman's parents a little concerned.
"You feel like every kid should have a book. That's what I had," said Matt's father, Jim Woodford, co-owner of Moneta Farm Service.
"They could stay after school if they were having problems with it, but if they want in-depth learning, they couldn't do it," said Vickie Woodford, Matt's mother. Their oldest son, Jeff, who graduated from Staunton River in 1994, didn't have a government book to bring home at night, either.
School administrators say part of the reason there are not enough books is because they anticipate that state education standards for textbooks will be changed soon and they don't want to buy more old books now and be forced to buy new ones later.
But that doesn't change the fact that there's not enough textbooks. Even though the Woodfords think Matt's teachers and administrators and even the county School Board are doing as much as they can, there just doesn't seem to be enough money for education at Matt's school, the Woodfords said.
Matt has the basics, and he even has access to more advanced learning materials such as computers, but the Woodfords still hear stories about teachers having to buy some of their classroom supplies.
This year, students in Matt's biology class had to pay $5 per student to buy frogs to dissect. And, Matt said, "We're having a fund-raiser now. We're selling candy and Christmas stuff for the science and math departments. That's going to get stuff like the test-tubes and glassware."
Bedford County's rapid residential growth over recent years "kind of caught the School Board off guard," Jim Woodford said. "All of a sudden there's all these needs."
And there doesn't seem to be enough county funds to fulfill them, he said. Woodford wouldn't be necessarily opposed to more federal funding for schools, but he's concerned that federal dollars would come with too many strings attached.
"I think the less they're involved, the better off we'll be," he said. "Naturally, federal funding could help, but I think we're under too much bureaucracy as it is."
Woodford said, "I'm sure there's plenty [Congress] can do. I just don't see where anything they could do can help all the school systems entirely. If it is, evidently I'm not swift enough to know. If there was something they could do, I sure would welcome it."
So what would the candidates for Congress do? Here's what the candidates in the 5th District, which covers most of Bedford County, have to say:
* Democrat Virgil Goode, a state senator and lawyer from Rocky Mount, said "while education is primarily a local and state function, the federal government can help - though it should do so without strings attached. In Virginia, we have taken action to decrease class sizes in kindergarten through third grade and to put a computer in every classroom. We need to continue that progress while stressing the basics."
* Republican George Landrith, an Albemarle County lawyer and former School Board member, said he remembers being at a budget meeting and being amazed at how little the federal government contributed to his county's schools, and yet how many rules it imposed on the school system to get that money.
"I think that when the federal government is involved in education, it needs to be a facilitator or a helper, not a dictator. And I would be in favor for making block grants to schools," Landrith said.
"What I will do is try and give discretion to localities so that the money that we give them, the only string attached is that they can't go out and pave streets with it. If it's for education, then you spend it on education."
Landrith said he would also like to see fewer administrators and office personnel in schools and more staff in classrooms.
* Virginia Independent Party candidate George "Tex" Wood, a college instructor from Patrick County, said "Southwestern and Southside Virginia for decades have seen taxes go up to D.C. and then to sinkhole urban areas. Getting back our fair share for education is my priority."
One way of doing that, Wood said, would be to reduce the federal trade deficit. By doing so, localities would become stronger, their revenues would increase, and there would be more local money for schools.
But Wood also thinks the federal government could contribute more to local education, but "if there's going to be strings tied to it, it should not be tied to education standards or content. That should be a local issue. If there are any strings attached, they should be attached to buying books, capital improvements and increasing teacher salaries, not adding to bureaucracy."
Nothing that any of the three candidates said really made the Woodfords feel like the federal government could help solve the problem with too little money being spent at their son's school.
The Woodfords said they thought it would have been better if the candidates had said they wanted the federal government to stay out of local schools altogether.
"I don't think those candidates could avoid having rules attached, being in D.C. with all the special-interest groups involved," Jim Woodford said. "Say the U.S. government agreed to pay each state a third of their education budget, just as a figure. Can you imagine what would be attached to this money by the time the special interests get through lobbying these guys?
"It would be a military state in the schoolhouse. It would be terrible."
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Eric Brady/Staff. Vicki and Jim Woodford are upset thatby CNBStaunton River High School doesn't have enough English books to send
one home with their son Matt. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS