Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 13, 1990 TAG: 9004130516
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: MARGIE FISHER RICHMOND BUREAU
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
"Some have counseled that this issue is simply one of money and that we must look to the courts to devise a financial remedy for educational disparity," said Secretary of Education James Dyke in a speech to the new Commission on Educational Opportunity for All Virginians.
Dyke said the disparity problem is rooted in educational programs, not finances. "Money is part of the solution. But only after we have addressed programmatic disparity," Dyke said.
Some citizens in Southwest Virginia and elsewhere are discussing a possible lawsuit because they say their children aren't receiving equal educational opportunity as required by the state constitution. Dyke made a strong plea for those people to back off and "give this commission a chance to do its work."
"The only people who gain from a court review are lawyers and those who serve as legal consultants," he said. "The people most involved with education - students, educators and local officials - are left in limbo while the courts review the issues. Once the review is completed, courts usually ask the state to do exactly what this commission is already charged to do: look at the problem and propose possible solutions."
In other states that have undergone court challenges to their public education funding formula, the state governments "had shown a pattern of neglect toward local schools, and a lawsuit was needed to awaken state leaders to the problem."
But Dyke said that is not the case in Virginia, where state spending for education has grown significantly in recent years and where "we have also shown that we are willing to address the disparity issue and seek solutions."
While saying that Virginia's government probably would win a court challenge on the issue, Dyke acknowledged there is an "unacceptable disparity in available educational opportunities" and that "no system claiming to be excellent can tolerate the continuance of such a problem."
In giving the new study commission its mandate from the governor, Dyke urged members - including legislators, educators, local government officials and business community representatives - to come up with creative solutions.
"More money for education is an easy answer, but it is not the complete answer," Dyke said. "Moreover, before we can expect the citizens of Virginia to provide more money, we must satisfy two requirements:
"First, that money currently available is being spent in the most effective and efficient manner to achieve educational excellence. And second, that we have in place a system of accountability - a scorecard on educational standards, student achievement and overall performance."
Following his speech, Dyke acknowledged to reporters that some of the recommendations from the commission may have a high price tag and because Wilder has said he won't raise taxes during his administration, one of the most creative challenges may be to find the money to implement the commission's ideas.
"If you just say [to educators], `Here's more money; do what you have been doing,' you're wasting your money," said Donald Thomas, an education consultant who has been working with the governor of Tennessee to solve that state's problems of disparities in education.
Thomas warned the commission that it would likely be under pressure from education community lobbyists to recommend increased spending. But mentioning the state's high dropout rate specifically, Thomas said, "If you give more money without structural changes you're still going to have 25 percent dropouts."
Dyke and Suzanne F. Thomas, chairman of the state Board of Education, both emphasized there has been much progress in the state's education system in recent years.
"Test scores are up. Teacher salaries are increasing. More kids are going on to college and taking advanced placement courses. Funding for education is up," Dyke said. But "in spite of our current efforts, 25 percent of our current ninth-graders will not graduate from high school. No system claiming excellence can have as a byproduct thousands of functionally illiterate dropouts.
"[The state system] can hardly be deemed effective or excellent when the prospects for gainful employment or college admission are unreasonably greater for the students of one school division, one race, one geographic location or one school background than they are for other students."
Turning to the dropout problem, Thomas said Virginia's overall dropout rate has actually declined from what it was 10 years ago. "However, if we look more closely, we will see that our dropout rate varies from a low in one division of almost zero to a high in another division of more than 11 percent. That means that of a thousand eighth-graders, only 627 are left by graduation time.
The commission, which is being headed by former Del. Willard Lemmon of Marion, is due to report to Wilder by February 1991. But Dyke said it may want to issue a preliminary report before that date so that the 1991 General Assembly can begin consideration of possible solutions.
Among the commission's members are Warner Dalhouse, chief executive officer of Dominion Bankshares in Roanoke; Waynesboro Mayor Thomas Gorsuch, who also is a member of the state Board of Education; and state Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount.
by CNB