ByTERRYSCANLON

ByTERRYSCANLON

Capitil New* Service

RICHMOND — An intrusive, strirtgs-attached bureaucracy blanketed in red tape.

That’s the way Gov. George Allen has attempted to portray the federal government, and he contends that for Virginia to remain free of that government’s long arms the commonwealth must reject conditional gifts such as Goals 2000.

Gov. Allen’s opponents and representatives of local school boards counter that Goals 2000 is not about the federal government meddling in Virginia’s affairs but rather the commonwealth meddling in localities affairs.

“What’s more intrusive?” asked Virginia Education Association President Robley S. Jones. “The federal government saying you could have the money if you want it or the state saying you can’t have it at all?”

David L. Blount, government relations officer for the Virginia School Boards Association, said 92 of the state’s 134 local school boards passed resolutions asking the state to supply for the $6.7 million allocated for Virginia in the “Educate America Act: Goals 2000” for the 1996 fiscal year.

“Allow local elected school boards to be able to make a choice,” Mr. Blount said. “If they want to participate in a voluntary federal program they should be allowed to do that.”

On May 7 Gov. George Allen sent a letter to the members of the Virginia Board of Education, the politically appointed body that ultimately must decide whether to apply for the aid.

In his letter, the governor asked board members to determine what changes are necessary to turn this into a true no-strings attached measure:

“The board should clearly set forth on a ‘take it or leave it’ basis the unconditional terms under which Virginia could accept Goals 2000.”

When the board met on May 9, it delayed a decision until its May 23 meeting because members needed more time to evaluate the situation before the decision.

“The timing is too quick to analyze the changes,” said William C. Bosher Jr., superintendent of public