THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 2, 1994 TAG: 9411020456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Dozens of recommendations intended to make public education more effective in Virginia - from school choice to more emphasis on basic academic courses - were adopted Tuesday by a panel appointed by Gov. George Allen to reduce waste and inefficiency in state government.
The Governor's Commission on Government Reform, known as the Blue Ribbon Strike Force, plans to forward the education proposals to Allen by mid-November, along with nearly 400 other suggestions to streamline government.
Allen charged the panel with suggesting ways to reduce burdensome regulations, consolidate many government services and, in some instances, farm out public services to private companies.
The strike force approved one proposal to reduce the state work force by 15 percent, or about 16,000 employees, within three years. The panel also voted to eliminate the approximately $10 million annual funding for the state's Center for Innovative Technology, which was criticized for failing to meet expectations in fostering economic growth and technological research and development.
Many of the strike force's education recommendations reflect Allen's parent-centered, conservative views on the public school system.
One recommendation, for example, calls on the state to develop guidelines to ensure more parental involvement in the schools.
The proposals were aired at public hearings throughout the state, some of them drawing intense fire. One of the most heated debates involves a recommendation for the state to provide tuition credits for parents who want to send their kids to private school. Critics contend that state funding for public schools already is inadequate and that allowing money to be filtered into private schools would further dilute scarce resources.
Allen has made education reform a centerpiece of his administration. A second panel hand-picked by Allen in May, the Commission on Champion Schools, also is developing a set of recommendations to improve public schools and will review the strike force ideas as part of its final report to be issued next spring.
Some of the strike force's recommendations are on the cutting edge of reform discussions occurring across the country. Some, such as recommendations that studies be done on the benefits of single-sex classes and school uniforms, have proven controversial.
Members of both the strike force and the champion-schools commission have said that one of the biggest complaints from parents is that schools are spending too much class time on ``developmental'' and ``social issues'' and not enough on academics.
One strike force recommendation calls for public schools to provide ``competency guarantees'' for graduates who receive college-prep diplomas. Schools would be required to pay for students who are unprepared for college work and require remedial help.
The strike force also recommended that teachers be better trained and that tenure be more difficult to obtain. It recommended that the state Department of Education consider student achievement when weighing whether to promote or increase pay for teachers. by CNB