Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 12, 1995 TAG: 9507120058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Allen attacked Democratic lawmakers Tuesday for blocking his education reforms, saying Democrats are wedded to the past and want to keep "throwing more money at failed policies."
The Republican governor said he supports more funds for education, but increased spending for schools must be coupled with genuine reform that improves quality.
Speaking at the Governor's Conference on Education, Allen said his proposals for "real reform" in education - higher academic standards, more local control, and safe schools - have faced entrenched opposition from Democrats.
He promised to return to the state legislature in January with many reform recommendations, including making the new Standards of Learning mandatory, providing teachers immunity from lawsuits in discipline cases, and requiring criminal background checks for new school employees.
Allen said he also will renew his proposal to return all of the state's lottery profits - more than $300 million per year - to localities to spend on education, law enforcement and/or tax relief.
He defended his decision not to seek $1.8 million in federal education reform funds under the Goals 2000 program, saying he fears the loss of local control of schools. The same General Assembly leaders who blocked his lottery proposal now are criticizing his decision not to seek the Goals 2000 money, Allen said.
The Democrats contended the lottery profits would have come out of the existing education budget, but Allen denied that.
"The lottery revenues would be in addition to funding [the education budget]. It is real money," he told nearly 1,000 school board members and school officials from across the state. Some members of the audience applauded his lottery remarks.
"It is time for honest change in Virginia education, because doing things the same old way is not working for our young people," he said. "The issue facing Virginia today is not whether we will invest more in education. All agree we must do that."
The issue is whether needed educational reforms will be made to boost academic standards and bring other changes, Allen said.
School administrators and teachers in Virginia are dedicated to quality, he said, but the state's schools are not measuring up.
In 1993, nearly one of every four Virginia high school graduates entering community and four-year colleges required remedial courses in math, English or reading, he said. Scores on national reading tests of fourth-graders this year showed a larger decrease in Virginia than in any other state, he said.
These trends cannot be blamed on lack of money, Allen said.
Since 1985, per-pupil spending on education in Virginia has risen 65 percent - 20 percent after adjusting for inflation, he said.
"Yet, the taxpayers and schoolchildren of Virginia have little to show for it," Allen said. ``During this same period, Virginia's SAT scores actually dropped 15 points.''
For the Democrats in the General Assembly, he said, the reality of decreasing student performance has either not sunk in or is viewed as inevitable. Allen said he is unwilling to accept mediocrity.
The new Standards of Learning, recently adopted by the state Board of Education, are the linchpin of Allen's push for higher academic standards. They are benchmarks of the knowledge and skills that students are required to master at each grade level in math, science, English and social studies.
Allen wants the standards to become regulations, so they can be used to develop an assessment system and hold schools accountable; Democratic lawmakers rejected the recommendation.
The governor said his proposal to return the lottery profits to localities would strengthen local control of schools, enabling local school boards and communities to decide how to spend the money.
Allen alluded to the criticism he has received over the Goals 2000 funds, but he turned aside complaints that he is pressing states' rights at the expense of Virginia's schoolchildren. There is no guarantee in the Goals 2000 program against federal interference in local schools, he said.
If Congress, in revisiting Goals 2000, provides protections for local control, he said, the state can have the money on its own terms.
Safe schools is another element in Allen's reform package, and he blamed Democrats for defeating proposals to make them safer. He said they killed a bill requiring criminal background checks on new school employees, and another giving teachers protection from frivolous lawsuits in discipline cases.
Allen said he had better success with the legislation that requires expulsion of students who bring guns to school.
by CNB