The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 18

Capital Report 4-B Sunday August 28 1988 The State Columbia SC School reforms over Lee Bandy Education Report governors call for more work in education field By STEVE SMITH Suit Writer Washington Bureau Thirty-five states are involved in pre- i school early-childhood programs in some cases involving social health and other -service agencies Last year 32 states encouraged parents to take greater responsibility in their education through parent edu- cation programs media campaigns and recognition programs They began requir ing parent participation in school advisory committees As to school buildings more states particularly those in the Northeast and Southeast are providing construction funds either through full support grants or loans Whether all of these initiatives are' working is another question to another status report said Rae Young Bond an NGA spokeswoman Three more followups to "Time to are pending believe these initiatives are crucial to improving our educational system' in order to give our young people the possible start on a future that will soon take us into the 21st said Missouri Gov John Ashcroft chairman of education subcommittee rewards and penalties Only nine states including South Carolina provide financial rewards or other recognition to schools or districts with especially high achievement levels And a handful of states have laws that enable them to an educationally bankrupt school system States are already trying to upgrade teacher candidate pools and improve the education of beginning teachers Entry standards for prospective administrators are being toughened and pools of potential principals are being expanded In some states exemplary schools are being freed somewhat from state regulations provided that they keep up student achievement Educational and cable television satellites and microwave transmission are giving states the ability to provide classes simultaneously to students at several locations courses that otherwise would be unavailable because of the expense for a single school district Twenty states are requiring colleges and universities to begin programs to judge student knowledge and skills and 12 other states are considering similar action row's workplace and help schools keep and attract the best teachers improving America's education system is not a sprint but a marathon then the governors are increasing the During the conference SC Gov Car-roll Campbell said the state is shining of how school reform can work and he crossed over party lines when he praised his Democratic predecessor Dick Riley as a in education reform The new NGA report called "Results in Education: cites a number of initiatives that have been launched since Hilton Head but the report also recommends some things the schools should start doing States must begin testing higher-order thinking skills and not limit their efforts to pencil-and-paper tests They should not rely solely on tests as measures of school performance but also should consider dropout rates course enrollment patterns class sizes and instructional practices More states should link results with Much has happened since the governors gathered on Hilton Head Island two years ago to issue Time for their clarion call for better school leadership teaching parent involvement use of technology and post-secondary education Last week in Cincinnati the governors issued an update report that basically patted themselves on the back for significant headway as they strive to improve schools help students get the knowledge and complex thinking skills they will need in tomor- Opportunity came to recruit center looking for a job and got hired as the woman says State Focus Philosophically alike stylistically different By LEE BANDY WaiStegw Buss WASHINGTON Philosophically not a worth of difference between Democrat Jim Leventis and Republican Floyd Spence Both are staunch conservatives Both favor a balanced federal budget Both call for a strong national defense Both support school prayer Both are opposed to big government Both tend to favor a greater role for the private sector in solving the nation's ills Both are opposed to a tax increase And both support a cut in wasteful federal spending If the two 2nd District contestants part company on anything education And then only a matter of money Leventis wants more federal dollars for education Spence says the money is not available So the difference between the two congressional candidates is really one of style not philosophy Leventis a prominent Columbia banker and lawyer likes to call it leadership As he sees it Spence has been a watch-from-the-sidelines member during his 18 years in the House Rarely is he heard from or heard of The district needs representation make things happen not just be Leventis said in a recent interview He never mentioned Spence's name but it was obvious whom he had in mind "When a person votes all the right ways that's good But not enough The people want to have a voice not just a Leventis said In many ways Spence has been just a vote his style Whether his supporters like it or not Spence is a low-profile representative Rarely does he take the lead on anything By his own admission he's not a leader He prides himself on excellent constituent service and his conservative voting record a style the voters in the district have grown accustomed to and says Blease Graham a political science professor at the University of South Carolina has been a service-oriented Leventis thinks the people have reached the point where they want more than a vote want somebody who'll be involved in an active he says Leventis denies that he is subtly raising the health issue when he uses such words as or Spence recuperating from a doublelung transplant in Mississippi has been absent from Congress since mid-May He also missed several weeks last year when he almost died from what the doctors called respiratory distress missed more than 100 votes Leventis says he's not going to take issue with what Spence does or da going to look to the future and talk about the need for to tackle the problems of tomorrow Leventis says And by being on the majority Democratic team Leventis believes be in a much better position to get things done All Republicans can do in the House is stand on the "outside and throw he says When asked to name an issue where he disagreed with Spence Leventis cited education never been a strong supporter in a budgetary sense If it means money he has nothing to do with he says of Spence Leventis acknowledges he has a tough row to hoe between now and Election Day Nov 8 But he's optimistic feel good about where we are and what he said on a day when he was in town trying to raise money for his campaign Right now he is concentrating on keeping margin down in Lexington County one of the strongest Republican bastions in the state spending the majority of my time there going block by he said He says he will have an organization in all 60 precincts in Lexington County father told me the harder you work the luckier you Leventis said He's going to need all the luck he can get to overcome what many feel will be a huge sympathy vote for Spence on Election Day The congressman is quickly regaining his strength and hopes to be back on the job shortly after Labor Day Leventis however is anything but discouraged "The people have been very warm and very he notes Some even supported Spence last time he claims By CINDI ROSS Sutf Writer Not all of the people who come to Ernestine Middleton's office looking to a job in state government get as lucky as she did Ms Middleton who had directed Comprehensive Employment and Training Act until the federal government ended the program in the early 1980s turned to the state recruitment office when she found herself unemployed "I was in the job market so I came here to look to a job and the manager had just retired so voila I came to the recruit center looking for a job and got hired as the she said The recruitment office one of six sections of the human resource management division of the Budget and Control Board lists most of the jobs open in all 127 agencies of state government The agencies have to list their jobs with her but they da And job applicants have to come to her office but they da the only place they can find out about all the jobs at once About 200000 people come to BAs Middleton's office annually hoping to fill one of the 6000 vacancies each year in state government Once people complete the paperwork at the recruitment office their names qualifications and job interests go into the computer Ms Middleton said When a job opening comes up the computer matches the necessary qualifications with the applicant pool and spits out the names of potential employees Those names are given to the agency directors who do the selections and interviews Ms Middleton said In addition to matching applicants with jobs Ms Middleton and her staff hold workshops for bosses to learn how to interview and select job applicants recruit college students and help state employees whose jobs are eliminated find new jobs Ms Middleton 37 took to a state government job quite naturally She studied psychology at Howard University in Washington and received a degree in public administration at Fair-leigh Dickinson University in Rutherford NJ She worked as a personnel technician for the city of Newark NJ before moving to South Carolina where she was a planner for a youth employment program in the office before moving to the CETA job like working to the she said "State and local governments are what always worked for Also it fits my lifestyle I'm settled and I have a family and want to move And not particularly interested in changing jobs always telling people to set goals and every five years I look at what she said "I really enjoy what doing There is nothing dull about this job Right now I have my eyes on another job got my eyes on how I can develop Her latest project is working with the Transitional Employment Program a privately operated national program designed to help people who have been treated for mental illnesses The people who have completed treatment move into the Independence House a halfway house where they are trained for jobs Ms Middleton is trying to get five positions in state government for program participants now job ready and the challenge is to get them she said They work at such jobs as file clerk and the Independence House guarantees no absenteeism if the employee is sick or make it to work someone else trained for the same job shows up Ernestine Middleton directs the state recruitment office image appears on By BILL ROBINSON how it occurred Staff Writer Halloween don't Letterman says At least Adams wearing a Lizard Man shirt a The signal from WIS-TV is being received in New York The TV news production crew is preparing to connect Adams with the reporter who will interview him via satellite Across the hall in the Late Night studio Letterman's producers intercept the signal and flash face on the screen while the comedian is performing his monologue for the audience Adams is sitting there smiling away and waiting to be asked a question by the TV reporter unaware his mug also is being taped on Letterman's show for broadcast later that night "Who the hell is that Letterman asks The comedian then asks his producer to show another video shot of Adams When Columbia Mayor Patton Adams agreed to do a live interview with a New York television station last week he got more exposure than he bargained for A lot more Adams granted an interview to a New York TV reporter who asked him questions about the friendly fracas he has going with New York Mayor Ed Koch over the origin of the nickname "The Big People On The Move While we're on the topic of the Big Apple (again) among New most visible tourist activities are horse carriage rides around Central Park Donald Brunson of Gaston wants to give it a try in Columbia 'r Brunson has gotten tentative approval from City Hall to operate horse-drawn carriages around the capital city In a letter to City Council earlier this month Brunson said "I am interested in working special events such as parades Mayfest Autumnfest and He told council he also would like to give tours beginning at the State Museum heading up Gervais Street to the State House and around the historic district where the Robert Mills Hampton-Preston and Mann-Simons houses are located Yes Brunson will equip his horses with diapers Initially Brunson wants to operate one carriage and then expand to several One in his collection is a 1909 "authentic restored Democrat Courting carriage'1 Some of his carriages are equipped with lights so they can be operated at night think this gentleman has done his homework and we ought to give him a Adams said Council concurred Giddyup see what that doing Where is Another shot of Adams appears briefly how do you The audience erupts in laughter think Letterman says facetiously guessing his production crew has somehow tapped into a broadcast from the Oprah Winfrey show It gives Letterman an opening to poke some more fun topic is the happiest man in the said Letterman playing the part of an announcer How do you do How long have been so damn Again the audience laughs this time louder Another quick shot of Adams The live shot of Adams was transmitted via satellite from WIS-TV in Columbia to the New York television station which is in the same building where Late Night With David Letterman is produced During Wednesday night show the master of sarcasm had a little fun at expense Letterman and his staff are known for doing off-beat things in the interest of comedy Lately the producers have gotten into the habit of stealing live pictures off the satellite while Letterman is performing before a studio audience Guess who's familiar face was the target of the barbs Wednesday night? You've got it PHILIP BRASWELL to head of the Radar Air Traffic Control Facility Engineering Division of the Naval Electronic Systems Engineering Center in ppriaaton- He received an electrical engineering degree in 1981 from the University of South Carolina KAY SPANN-BYRD to communicationspublic relations manager to the William Hall Psychiatric Institute Ms Spann-Byrd who previously served as publications editor will provide communication editorial publication patient employee media and public relations services for the teaching and research facility ahd the 233-bed psychiatric hospitaL Adams i appears bet you get plenty of work around.