THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 21, 1994 TAG: 9409210438
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Virginia must seriously re-examine its spending priorities for public education to avert a looming crisis in school funding, the sponsors of a ``report card'' on the state's school system said Tuesday.
If student enrollment and per-pupil costs continue to rise, Virginians will pay significantly more in taxes to educate their children, the report says. And, the study suggests, the return on those dollars may not be better-educated children.
The report, part of a nationwide assessment of education, was produced by the Washington-based American Legislative Exchange Council. In Virginia, the report was released jointly in Richmond by the council and The Commonwealth Foundation of Virginia, a conservative think tank formed last fall as a political outgrowth of GOP Gov. George Allen's campaign.
``We spend a lot of money on education, so I don't think money is an issue,'' said Walter Curt, president of the foundation and a member of Allen's ``strike force'' on government waste and inefficiency. ``The issue is what we get for what we're spending.''
If there is a single overriding finding in the report, it is this: Money alone does not guarantee a good education. But many states, including Virginia, continue to think it does, study sponsors said.
``The real point is that we need to look at things besides money to fix our schools,'' said Lynne V. Cheney, a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, who joined the groups in releasing the report.
In 1993-94, for instance, New Jersey spent $9,429 per student, the highest rate in the nation. No. 25 Iowa spent only $5,217, yet Iowa students ranked at the top academically nationwide, outpacing New Jersey on every performance measured by the report - SATs, national reading and math assessments and graduation rate.
Virginia ranked 26th in per-pupil spending, at $5,169. It is among 13 states that have increased total education spending by 50 percent or more over the past 11 years, a trend that emerged after release of the U.S. Department of Education's ``Nation At Risk'' report, which highlighted in bleak terms the failures of public education.
Even though funding levels rose, most of the money has gone to ``non-teacher'' costs.
According to the report, 59 percent of the money spent per pupil in Virginia during 1993-94 went to pay ``non-teacher'' costs. Examples of such expenses include district and schoolhouse administration, building operation and maintenance, teacher aides, guidance counselors, social workers and other auxiliary employees.
``These costs warrant some very careful attention by legislators,'' said Bill Myers, who directed the study. ``It should be checked before we pour more money into education in Virginia.''
In response to the report, William C. Bosher Jr., state superintendent of public instruction, agreed that the state and local school districts need to focus on spending for the classroom. And that doesn't necessarily mean more money is needed. But he disagreed with suggestions that nonteaching money was being used to feed bloated educational bureaucracies - at least on the state level.
``If we took the entire state Department of Education and abolished it, we probably couldn't raise teacher salaries in Fairfax County alone by 5 percent,'' Bosher said. Since taking office in January, Bosher said, he has trimmed the department's budget by $2.7 million, primarily through staff reductions.
``Probably the most critical question I would continue to ask is, `What are we doing with what we have?' '' Bosher said.
According to the report, Virginia has increased school funding by nearly 68 percent over the past two decades, a rate that's 20 percentage points higher than the national average.
Even so, the report shows, the state has not made significant progress in student performance. By some measures, such as the SATs, average student test scores have dropped over the past two decades.
Academically, Virginia is running in the middle of the pack nationwide. Its 75.3 percent graduation rate is slightly above the national average, its SAT scores just below the average. The state's fourth-graders tied at 10th with five other states in national reading scores.
With statewide enrollment projected to rise by nearly 20 percent over the next 10 years, the debate over school-funding priorities is expected to intensify. Given current trends, the report projects that, by the year 2005, a family of four would pay $1,488 more in taxes a year to fund education, an increase of 38.7 percent.
KEYWORDS: STUDY EDUCATION REPORT CARD by CNB