DATE: Thursday, August 28, 1997             TAG: 9708280530

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A10  EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: Back to School 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   56 lines

LEGISLATORS ASK STATE BOARD FOR DELAY IN APPROVING EDUCATION STANDARDS

State legislators, warning of a ``rocky road'' during next year's session if their concerns aren't heeded, asked the state Board of Education on Wednesday to delay next week's vote on a major overhaul of school accreditation standards.

Board members said they'd consider the legislators' proposed revisions and suggestion for a delay, but they didn't appear likely to postpone the vote, set for Sept. 4.

The new standards, among other things, would toughen high school graduation requirements and require that 70 percent of a school's student body pass new state tests for the school to retain accreditation. The legislators complained that the new diploma requirements would squeeze out time for vocational education and that the 70 percent pass rate might be too severe.

During a testy joint meeting of the education board and the legislative Commission on the Future of Public Education in Virginia, board President Michelle Easton said she would read through the proposals submitted by the lawmakers.

But Easton said afterward: ``If there are issues we have reviewed and heard testimony on and deliberated on, it wouldn't make much sense to delay.

``We have worked on this over a year,'' Easton said. ``We could spend four or five more years on this. How long do you spend if you have what you want?''

Del. W.W. ``Ted'' Bennett Jr., D-Halifax, chairman of the commission, said later that if the board didn't comply with the request, ``I'm not clairvoyant, but I expect to see a rocky road in the General Assembly for some of the proposals.''

The friction Wednesday prefigures a turf war over control of state education that is likely to last far beyond next week. The commission includes businessmen and legislators, most of whom are Democrats; the Board of Education members were all appointed by Republican Gov. George F. Allen.

During the meeting, Bennett urged the board and General Assembly to forge common ground. ``We seek to have the board cooperate with us,'' he said. ``Any reform, particularly systemic reform in education, is not going to be successful unless we have the broadest consensus we can.''

He told board members that if they don't follow that route, ``General Assembly members are going to be coming in in January with legislation that will undo or make topsy-turvy what you've tried to do. This is not an effective way to do statecraft.''

The sharp warnings add another layer of dissent mounting against the board's accreditation proposals. During public hearings across the state last month, most speakers complained about another proposed change: elimination of the state requirement to teach sex education and to provide elementary guidance counselors.

Commission members did not mention those changes Wednesday. But two local commission members - Sen. Stanley C. Walker, D-Norfolk, and Del. J. Paul Councill Jr., D-Franklin - have said they would support a bill reinstating the state sex-ed and guidance mandates. KEYWORDS: STANDARD OF LEARNING

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