Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 23, 1995 TAG: 9503230065
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Tech, where Sgro was dean of students before Gov. George Allen tapped her to be education secretary, has been anything but supportive of the Allen administration's agenda this year.
"Anyone who dares to challenge the status quo is seen as hostile to education," Sgro told the audience that included many of Tech's top administrators. Tech joined with the state's other universities in successfully fighting the Allen administration's proposed cuts to education in the General Assembly this spring.
But Sgro told business, community and campus leaders Tuesday that college costs have gone out of control, growing at three times the rate of inflation. She made her comments during the Greater Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner held at Tech's conference center.
Sgro stressed the need to keep higher education affordable by making it more accountable. "There are honest differences on how best to achieve this challenge," she said. "Some in the General Assembly and in the education establishment believe the only measure of success is how many dollars you can throw at a problem. ... I believe that we must change the way we do business."
She criticized colleges and universities for responding to cuts in state funding by increasing in-state tuition by 50 percent during the '90s rather than restructuring to reduce costs.
She called on universities to reduce dollars spent on administration to free funds for important academic courses, to "restrain the scatter-shot proliferation" of programs, and to reduce course duplication throughout the state system.
"Just throwing more money at education without ensuring accountability is a guarantee of failure," Sgro said. She said the Allen administration planned to increase funding while setting limits on tuition and increasing accountability and decentralization.
The Allen administration's choice of "new priorities" for funding, however, might not be the same choice that local leaders would make.
Sgro, who supported the demise of Radford University's College of Global Studies as well as an unsuccessful effort to cut millions from Virginia Tech's Cooperative Extension Service, mentioned the new engineering school at Virginia Commonwealth University and the new women's leadership institute at Mary Baldwin College as the administration's "important new priorities."
The Allen administration also will create a higher education trust fund to help families save for college and has proposed a four-year contract to protect students from "excessive" tuition increases once enrolled.
On public education, Sgro said increases in state funding of 65 percent over the past 10 years have not resulted in higher test scores. The Allen administration is in the process of setting new standards of education that will raise academic standards for every grade.
"Some are critical of our proposed standards for being too rigorous, but I know our children can learn more and our teachers can teach more, if they are asked. We just cannot afford to `dummy down' the curriculum to the lowest common denominator anymore."
by CNB