THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510220132
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: ELECTION '95
THE CITIZENS' AGENDA
The Virginian-Pilot has asked people around the state what their major
concerns are leading up to the Nov. 7 election. This is one in a
series of in-depth reports on those concerns: Today's topic:
Education
SOURCE: BY JOEL TURNER, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
LENGTH: Long : 176 lines
Both sides are trying to put their own spin on education in this fall's campaign for the General Assembly. Candidates are hearing loud and clear from citizens that education is important, said Robert Holsworth, a political analyst at Virginia Commonwealth University.
He predicts that some Democrats will continue making an issue of Allen's proposed budget cuts, and that Allen and the GOP will continue talking about how they are pushing for higher academic standards.
A political analyst at Virginia Tech, Bob Denton, agrees. ``The Democrats will use it as a scare tactic. They will say that Allen is hurting education,'' he said. ``The Republicans will say they are trying to reform and improve education.''
The broad themes are that, for many Republicans and Gov. George F. Allen, Virginia Democrats are wedded to mediocrity and the status quo in the public schools. Democrats say Allen will take money from schools to build prisons and cut taxes.
Since taking office, Allen has proposed nearly $100 million in budget cuts for public and higher education. Still, Allen says he wants to make education the state's No. 1 investment. State spending per pupil is up: from $1,833 in the 1994 fiscal year, to $1,952 for 1995.
While state funding for education has risen by 65 percent in the past decade, a growth rate that has exceeded inflation, Scholastic Assessment Test scores for Virginia's high school seniors have dropped. Standardized test scores have remained relatively flat. The failure rate on the state's Literacy Passport Test for sixth-graders has remained at nearly 33 percent since the test was instituted six years ago.
And nearly one of every four Virginia high school graduates enrolling in state four-year and community colleges needs remedial work in math, English or reading.
Allen has said declining test scores and poor academic performance have either not registered with Democrats or they view those developments as inevitable. He has attacked Democrats for refusing to make the state's new Standards of Learning mandatory.
During the 1995 General Assembly session, Democrats said they wanted more time to study the issue and that it wasn't a change they wanted to make in the second year of the biennium.
While Allen claims Democrats want to maintain business as usual in education and are willing to jeopardize the children's future.
Democrats are trying to cast Allen as an enemy of the state's poorest school divisions, especially those in western and southwest Virginia that will benefit from disparity funds.
While Allen is focusing on reform of standards and policy, Democrats are concentrating on money. They restored most of his proposed $52 million in budget cuts for public schools this year.
Some Democrats think the biggest problem in state education is the funding disparity between poor and affluent school districts.
The General Assembly approved the Omnibus Education Act this year. It establishes a long-term goal of reducing pupil-teacher ratios and addressing disparity concerns. The Act doesn't appropriate funding. Allen vetoed the disparity legislation last year because, he says, it contained an unfunded mandate, but he signed it this year after revisions were made to eliminate his objections.
The Democratic leadership has not developed a program of academic reform to counter Allen's because they don't believe the state education system is broken.
House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, said the state's test scores have ``waxed and waned'' over the years, but he is confident students receive a better education than they would have received five to 10 years ago. He rejects the notion that state education policies are a failure.
What's at stake in the education debate is the quality of schools in Virginia, said Richard Salmon, professor of education at Virginia Tech. ``It's going to take a lot more money, as well as higher standards, to improve schools,'' said Salmon, a national expert on disparity in school funding.
Democrats have made a start with the disparity package, but it falls far short of what is needed, Salmon said.
Virginia pays only 35 percent of the cost of schools; most states foot nearly 50 percent of the cost.
Salmon says it will cost $800 million to $1 billion to eliminate disparity in Virginia - and that will require a reordering of spending priorities.
Republicans present their education agenda as an attempt to return to basics with higher academic standards, give localities more flexibility and provide parents more control over education.
The new standards of learning - passed by a State Board of Education consisting of six Democratic appointees and three Allen appointees - form the cornerstone of the reform debate. Some candidates want to make the standards mandatory for every school system, to test student performance regularly and develop a report card to show how each school is faring.
School systems would retain the right and responsibility to develop the curriculum to meet the standards.
This year, the General Assembly refused to turn the standards into requirements for all school systems.
James Jones, president of the Board of Education, says the state can require schools to meet the standards even if the legislature refuses to approve Allen's request.
The state has had standards since the '80s - and a democratic administration - but they have been advisory and have received little attention.
In some states, new standards have helped boost test scores and caused schools to upgrade curriculum in core subjects such as math, science and English.
Teachers in Virginia are divided on whether the standards will improve schools and students' academic performance. Lee Ware, a history and government teacher at Powhatan High School, says that ``strong academics are the first obligation of schools.'' Ware, who was recently appointed to the Board of Education by Allen, believes the standards will help keep schools focused on priorities.
Other teachers worry that the quality of instruction could suffer. ``The obvious danger is that teachers will begin teaching to the test,'' said David Turk, a government teacher at Salem High School. ``When you get so focused on the test, you forget the bigger goal - how to teach the kids to think and solve problems on their own.''
Lawrence Cross, associate professor of education at Virginia Tech, said new standards represent ``noble goals, and there is something to be said for them.'' But, Cross said, standards and tests alone won't improve the quality of schools.
``They are well-intentioned and politically popular,'' he said, ``but you need to provide money to help improve the quality of instruction and help those school systems that are not doing well.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
Citizens don't articulate their concerns about education
narrowly. They express disdain and aggravation for partisan
posturing generally and, when talking about schools, they rarely
mention political parties. In discussions hosted by the newspaper
this summer, Virginians mentioned education as the foundation for
economic development and as a critical component of crime-busting.
They also talk about investing public dollars in education and
about their concerns about standards. Some of those thoughts:
``If our communities are to compete worldwide, internationally
and nationally, we need to start promoting our children, our school
system. We spend less money on the child than we do on the
criminals.''
Jane Baum, Virginia Beach
``Money will not fix the educational system. If money would fix
it, it would have been fixed a long time ago.''
Candy Johnson, Portsmouth
``I've always said this: If you want to spend my money or tax me
more, spend it for education. If you give kids an opportunity for a
better future, then you can turn some of the tides that are
happening right now.''
Bob Middlebrooks, Chesapeake
``A lot of it has to do with the level of commitment that those
individuals that get into that educational system has, their ability
to teach. The standards are too low. We're going to continue to see
very poor scores from our young people because there needs to be a
major overhaul.''
Charles Peek, Norfolk
INFORMATION
Governor's Commission on Champion Schools, Richmond,
1-804-692-0244.
Virginia Congress of Parents and Teachers, Richmond,
804-355-2816, for issues about parental involvement, funding.
Virginia Education Association, Richmond, 804-648-5801, about
funding issues and legislation affecting teachers and other school
employees.
Virginia School Boards Association, Charlottesville,
1-804-295-8722.
Virginia Committee of the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools, Richmond, 1-804-225-2814, elementary; Radford,
1-703-831-5399, secondary.
Virginia Association of School Superintendents, Charlottesville,
1-804-924-0538.
by CNB