THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996 TAG: 9603260344
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Gov. George F. Allen on Monday stepped up efforts to discourage local school boards from applying for federal funds that Allen has refused to accept on ideological grounds.
Allen warned that localities that follow the lead of Norfolk in applying for the federal Goals 2000 money could find themselves ensnared in a web of federal regulations.
``There's not only strings attached, there is a lot of wire and a lot of rope,'' he said at a news conference.
Allen might not give localities the opportunity to hang themselves on red tape. The states-rights Republican hinted he would veto a Democrat-inspired provision in the state budget aimed at generating a groundswell of support for the estimated $6.6 million in federal Goals 2000 funds.
Under the budget, Allen would have no choice but to participate in Goals 2000 if two-thirds of school boards in the state request a share of the money, which could be used to help put in place Virginia's new academic standards.
Democrats in the General Assembly slipped the provision into the budget to draw attention to what critics say is Allen's willingness to sacrifice needed education money on the altar of philosophical purity.
``It doesn't make any sense - as scarce as money is today - to turn down money that rightfully belongs to the taxpayers,'' said Page Boinest, spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer Jr.
The Virginia School Boards Association has urged localities to petition for Goals 2000 money and, to make things easier, has mailed out model resolutions. Last week, the Norfolk School Board become one of the first to support the funding.
The Allen administration, however, is sticking with its view that Goals 2000 would result in an unnecessary federal intrusion into the sovereignty of Virginia schools.
In a memo sent to all school divisions last week, state schools Superintendent William C. Bosher Jr. portrayed Goals 2000 as an extraordinarily complicated venture with all sorts of bureaucratic and legal requirements.
Monday, Allen described the federal program in the most ominous terms, suggesting it could require the establishment of ``super school boards'' that could usurp the authority of duly elected bodies.
Allen acknowledged that he does not advocate pulling Virginia out of other federal programs, which provide tens of millions of dollars for everything from highway construction to pollution permits.
``We've become dependent on it,'' he said with a sigh.
KEYWORDS: GOALS 2000 FEDERAL FUNDING VIRGINIA SCHOOLS by CNB