GOLDSMITH EMPHASIZES CHOICE IN EDUCATION OF KIDS

With two of his own children in private schools, Indianapolis' mayor says such decisions should be up to parents, not judges.

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Mayor Goldsmith encourages kids to write to him with their suggestions for Indianapolis and problems that city government should address. You can write him at 2501 City-County Building, Indianapolis, Ind. 46204. Or write to Children's Express.

Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith has four children. His son and stepson, ages 10 1/2 and 10, attend private school; his 6-year-old daughter is an Indianapolis Public Schools student; and his 2 1/2-year-old daughter is in preschool.

Goldsmith chose his children's schools, and he thinks that other parents should have the same option.

He told Children's Express why he chose these schools for his children.

"The reason that they're where they are now is because they started early and liked it, which suggests to me that public schools ought to start earlier recruiting kids in and connecting them with the school."

Although Goldsmith believes that parents should choose schools for their children, he hopes that eventually more parents will decide to send their kids to public schools.

"My purpose would be that kids go to public schools, which I think eventually is where all my children will go," he says. "I think it's a personal decision. It doesn't just depend on the school. A lot of it depends on the teacher, year-to-year, especially in the younger grades. Who the teacher is, is more important than the school."

He added later: "I would hope that parents would have more choices, which is one of the reasons I want school busing stopped _ so that a parent who wants her child to go to the neighborhood school could choose that if they want it."

Goldsmith says parents and school superintendents should be free to decide how much busing they want.

"What I object to is a federal judge not elected by anyone telling which kids have to go to which schools. So it's not so much busing. It's forced busing ordered by a federal judge that I object to. . . . What I'll be doing is petitioning the court to relieve us of the burdens of busing."

Goldsmith says it's up to parents and schools to reform education. Although the mayor says he's not trying to reform education directly, he does have some ideas about schools.

"If IPS wanted to start an academic academy for young men (or young women), I think they should be allowed to do it. . . . I went to an all-men's college. I think it ought to be an option that's offered as soon as the same options are offered for each gender.

"There's a lot of business interest in our schools. I was in a meeting with 30 corporate leaders. They want to do something about schools. I think the role of the mayor is to help organize those efforts and coordinate those efforts."

In a previous interview, IPS Superintendent Shirl E. Gilbert II told Children's Express that one of his goals was to bring IPS schools up to "world class" standards. We asked Goldsmith if he thought public schools in Marion County would ever be "world class."

"There's a chance," the mayor says. "Today there's a better chance for the townships because they have more resources and better ability to handle the problems that some kids have. IPS is going in the right direction, but it'll be a long and very difficult endeavor with a lot of pressures put on the schools by the failures of parents and the problems of crime. I think it's possible."

Other comments from the mayor:

On dropouts: "If you drop out or you are expelled, then a whole series of adverse things happen economically and educationally and (happen to the) family . . . We need to do a better job making schools stimulating and recruiting back in the dropouts quickly. So it's a combination of trying to convince the dropouts that they have a lot to lose by dropping out and convincing the schools they need to change in order to be more responsible (to the needs of students)."

On using youth in government: "I'm going to use a lot of people involved in youth. We're going to have a mayor's youth advisory group. We're going to give them specific responsibility and maybe a little bit of resources _ money _ that they could allocate and use as a way to gather information and thoughts about what's going on in Indianapolis. Then they can make suggestions about city resources."

On problems facing Indianapolis families: "Economics is the first problem. A lot of families are poor, especially the mom, and there are not enough resources to give children a fair chance. Secondly are the effects of poor housing, poor health and drugs, which pull down families and children. I guess the third is a lack of recreational and cultural opportunities, so that a lot of folks live in communities where there's insufficient chances."