THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504090043
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long : 220 lines
When it came to money for Virginia's schools, legislators from both political parties rallied to defy Gov. George F. Allen's proposed budget cuts. But the General Assembly session that just ended exposed a growing divide over education policy that troubles Democrats and Republicans.
``What I've seen is that, yes, it's become polarized on a partisan basis,'' said Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News. ``I would hope we start to focus more on substantive issues of educational quality rather than the partisanship that has seemed to be the focus since this governor came in.''
Allen put education on the front burner, trying to make good on his campaign pledge to overhaul public schools. Lawmakers wrangled for much of the session over initiatives pushed by Allen and conservative allies.
Opponents put the brakes on Allen's controversial call for experimental charter schools, but agreed to study the issue for a year. Democrats staved off other proposed changes they claimed would have gutted sex education and tied the hands of guidance counselors.
``I think the cautious action by this General Assembly was good,'' said Judy Singleton, director of government relations for the Fairfax County School Board. ``It seems what didn't happen outweighed what did.''
While they fought openly over the direction they want to take education, lawmakers point to accomplishments.
``As many Republicans as Democrats submitted amendments to have money restored to the governor's budget,'' said Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth. ``This may have been the one issue that brought about a working relationship.''
Besides resisting the Republican governor's proposal to ax millions of dollars from programs in higher education and public schools, legislators actually added money - a $47 million initiative to expand technology in elementary and middle schools.
``I think that's something that's going to prove very, very good for education,'' said Sen. Stanley C. Walker, D-Norfolk.
Also significant, lawmakers said, was passage of a bill that maps out priorities for future funding and earmarks the annual $300 million in lottery proceeds for education.
The bill, the Omnibus Education Act, writes into law a commitment to help poor school districts. The act calls for smaller classes in kindergarten through third grade and helping disadvantaged 4-year-olds get an early start. It also would force parents to help school officials discipline disruptive children or face fines of up to $500.
``It's unfortunate you have to try to mandate parental responsibility, but in our day and age we don't get the support we need from parents on discipline,'' Hamilton said.
On other fronts, the General Assembly paved the way for schools to educate girls and boys in single-sex classes and to require that school kids dress in uniforms.
Legislators also tried to create safer schools: They passed bills to expel kids who bring guns to school and to report to school officials about juveniles arrested for serious crimes.
State schools Superintendent William C. Bosher Jr., Allen's often-beleaguered flag bearer, blamed much of the session's contentiousness on politics.
This fall, all 140 General Assembly seats will be up for grabs; Republicans need to win only a few more to gain control.
``In an environment like this, even if you don't have differences, you create them because of the political necessity of distinguishing their platforms,'' Bosher said.
Some education bills of substance, such as the charter school legislation, fell victim to the adversarial relationship, Bosher said.
The debate over charter schools and sex education, taught as part of a state-mandated ``family life'' program, reflects the philosophical differences that have divided the General Assembly - and the public.
``I'm very concerned as a parent that the General Assembly would deny me the right to have expanded choices of education through charter schools,'' said Dimitrios N. Rerras of Norfolk, a member of Allen's Champion Schools Commission and a GOP candidate for the Senate. ``School choice would bring progress because it will reward what works and bring competition to what doesn't work.''
Allen framed his agenda as an attempt to give parents more control over their children's education and also to give localities greater freedom. Allen, for example, wanted to let local school boards decide whether to offer sex ed, and wanted to require that schools get parents' permission for children to take the class.
Critics of Allen's proposal argued that teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases make sex education essential and not something subject to local political pressures.
``This isn't the kind of parental involvement we had in mind,'' said Kenton Pattie, president of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs. ``If these proposals had been on target and would have gotten parents involved and helped kids in the classroom, I think the response would have been different.''
Legislators also battled over bills that would have undermined tenure, a long-term contract of employment, and made it easier for school districts to get rid of teachers. Democrats sided with the state's largest teachers' union, the Virginia Education Association, to defeat the bills, a source of irritation for some GOP legislators.
``I keep asking the question: `How has tenure benefited the quality of public education?' '' Hamilton said. ``The perception is that we're worse off.''
Much of what the General Assembly did this session was ``irrelevant'' to the needs of parents, Pattie said.
Legislators, he said, did nothing to help Fairfax County eliminate 411 mobile classrooms, which he called ``substandard,'' and also failed to approve ``the one thing we really wanted'' - a bill to allow school districts to start the school year before Labor Day. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
TRUANCY
Parents must ensure that their children attend school or risk losing
welfare payments.
DRESS CODE
Local school boards will be able to require that students wear
uniforms.
Graphic with icons by Ken Wright, Staff
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON EDUCATION
BILLS PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Zero-tolerance on guns: (HB 1614, SB 874) Students who bring a
gun or other deadly weapons to school automatically would be
expelled for at least a year.
IDs of delinquents: (HB 1380) Court or law enforcement officials
must notify school superintendents when a student is arrested in
connection with a delinquent act involving death, weapons, drugs,
assault, wounding, arson or burglary. This toughens an existing
provision that requires notification when a student is found guilty
of such criminal acts.
Parents held accountable: (HB 2542) Parents who refuse to work
with school officials to improve the behavior of disruptive children
could face up to $500 in court fines. Parents could be fined $50 for
failure to sign a contract at the start of school pledging to assist
school officials in disciplining their children and maintaining
order.
Disparity buster: (HB 2542) Programs to help poor school
districts reduce class size in kindergarten through third grade and
provide early education for economically disadvantaged 4-year-olds
are now statutory priorities. The law also promotes technology and
sets up a mechanism to fund ``prevention'' programs, such as dropout
prevention, through no-strings block grants. Legislators said the
initiative serves as a guidepost for where the state will put its
education dollars.
No school, no welfare: (HB 2001) Parents must ensure that their
children regularly attend school or risk losing payments under Aid
to Families with Dependent Children, the federal government's main
welfare program. The provision was included in the state's
welfare-reform package.
Dress for success: (HB 2032, HB 2136, SB 1102) Local school
boards will be able to require that students wear uniforms. The
state Board of Education has been directed to develop model
guidelines for local schools to use, including parental involvement
and cost.
Separate sexes: (HB 2419) Local schools will be able to educate
boys and girls in single-sex classes to the extent that it does not
violate federal law.
Community of readers: (HB 2163) To promote literacy development
among first- and second-graders, pilot projects using volunteer
tutors will be created.
School waivers: (HB 2601) The Board of Education was instructed
to develop guidelines to free local school districts from state
accreditation standards if it would help them improve their
instructional programs.
BILLS REJECTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Charterless territory: (HB 1625, HB 2535 and SB 1037) Bills that
would allow local school districts to approve experimental charter
schools were defeated. The legislature, however, formed a joint
House-Senate committee that will study the concept and report its
recommendations in the 1996 session.
Just say no: (HB 2421) An effort to allow schools to set up
random testing of students for drug and alcohol use did not make it
out of committee. Its sponsor, Del. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach,
contended that the program would give kids a reason to say no to
drugs, but opponents said it would unfairly pit students against
their parents and the schools.
Opting out: (HB 2556, SB 1074) Gov. Allen's effort to end
state-mandated family life education failed. Allen wanted to make
the sex-ed program a local option and to require written parental
permission before children could participate - a change from the
current ``opt-out'' approach, in which parents have to request in
writing that their children not be placed in family life classes.
A guiding hand: (HB 2468, SB 1033) The General Assembly killed a
bill that would have required parental permission before a child
could receive advice from guidance counselors beyond academics or
career choices. The bill also would have banned psychotherapy
techniques.
No pledge: (HB 2481) An effort to require students to recite the
Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day failed. The
House passed a resolution (HJR 660) encouraging that the pledge be
used by schools and universities at meetings and assemblies.
Resisting regulation: (HB 2030) Democratic lawmakers refused to
consider Allen's plan to turn the state's Standards of Learning into
regulations. The SOLs, now guidelines, spell out what students
should be taught in social studies, math, science and language
arts.
Fingerprint file: (HB 2031, SB 971) Legislators rejected an
attempt to require that all school districts run criminal background
and fingerprint checks on new employees. The matter now is left up
to individual districts.
Source: House and Senate, General Assembly
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY EDUCATION PUBLIC SCHOOLS by CNB