THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996              TAG: 9610170013
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   28 lines

JOHN DOESN'T LISTEN

When I read in The Virginian-Pilot on Oct. 9 that John Warner believes he is responsive to the education-related concerns of Virginians, I was shocked and angry. My experience is that John Warner doesn't listen.

One of the most important pieces of education legislation considered by the present Congress was the reauthorization of the federal program that ensures educational opportunities for children with special needs. I wrote to John Warner in 1995, offering him a number of my concerns about proposals that were then under consideration by Congress. As a School Board member and the parent of a child with special needs, I thought John Warner would value my insights.

However, my response from John Warner consisted of a form letter that blathered on and on about his budget priorities without addressing or showing any understanding of the education issues about which I had written.

I believe that this lack of responsiveness is typical of the way in which John Warner has addressed education issues over the past several years, and is evidence that Virginia needs a new senator who will listen to our concerns, in education as well as other important areas. Although I voted for John Warner in 1984 and 1990, I will be voting for Mark, not John, on Nov. 5.

JIM WHEATON

Chesapeake, Oct. 9, 1996 by CNB