May 25, 1989

LEAD: A PARENTS' movement is astir in the United States. Unlike other recent social movements, this one is not a battle for rights or equality, but for relief.

LEAD: Robert Ing stood beside the ramshackle plywood shed he first built five years ago on the disused elevated portion of the West Side Highway and considered where he would go after work begins this morning to demolish the road.

LEAD: After months of combat, House Speaker Jim Wright today accepted that the political damage from an ethics investigation has become too great and that he will have to step down, supporters and Democratic colleagues reported.

LEAD: The Administration's savings and loan rescue plan met with serious opposition from President Bush's own Republican ranks today in a confrontation that reflected heavy lobbying efforts by the industry and could signal problems for the plan when it reaches the House floor.

LEAD: In his most positive assessment so far of Mikhail S. Gorbachev's policies, President Bush said today that he wanted the economic and political changes to succeed and welcomed recent Soviet arms control proposals.