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It is plain from your Dec. 8 story "Letter Urges SOL Critics to Suggest Alternatives" that State Board of Education President Kirk T. Schroder and the Gilmore administration do not hold principled convictions about the future academic success of Virginia's public school children.

The Standards of Learning are the first bright hope in more than a generation that public schools will be held accountable for quality academic performance, especially for struggling students who need help most. Strangely, the education community has rejected these reasonable standards and their accountability mechanism, the Standards of Accreditation (SOA). Apparently, they do not believe Virginia's children are capable of academic excellence and, more alarming, that teachers are capable of delivering a quality education to our children.

With this apparent confession by various teacher unions, principals and superintendents one would think they would endorse school choice legislation this January to allow our children to succeed when public schools fail. By the way, SOL simply raises student achievement to the current level of private school and home school students here in Virginia.

As for Gov. Gilmore, who often claims a conservative mantle, and his School Board president, Mr. Schroder, their lack of conviction can only open the floodgates of pressure and criticism from those who do not want an open and fair evaluation of school success. Kirk Schroder's invitation for alternative programs to SOL/SOA show that he doesn't believe in these initiatives enough to stand by them. The Gilmore administration is playing politics with an issue too important to try to please all the people all the time.

We need to see the kind of strength he displayed on taxes applied to the SOL process - for the sake of Virginia's children. Virginia must stop promoting failing students. Our educators should be there to help them. These standards and holding schools responsible through SOL/SOA help every struggling student.

ELIZABETH SMITH

Great Falls