THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512160023
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: BY JAMES P. JONES
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Virginia Democrats believe that their success in holding onto the General Assembly in last month's elections was due, in no small part, to their pro-education stand, and the perceived view that Governor Allen, who led the campaign for the Republican challengers, considered public education less of a priority than many voters.
Democrats feel it was a winning issue and judging from the results of the elections, are likely to want to continue as champions of education during the upcoming session of the General Assembly. It is reported that the Democrats' budget proposals will contain substantial additional funds to lower class sizes and provide more computers in Virginia's classrooms. On the other hand, Governor Allen's past education proposals, such as legislation authorizing ``charter'' schools, free from regulatory control, may not find any more success than they did in the last session of the General Assembly.
The recent political campaign was a particularly nasty one and Democrats could hardly be faulted for sticking with campaign promises which they feel brought them victory. They ought not to forget, however, that while the public wants adequately funded schools, it also wants change in the way our schools are run. Raising academic standards for all children is one good idea whose time has come. It ought to receive the attention of pro-education Democrats in the General Assembly.
In fact, efforts to raise school standards started under the Wilder administration, but that effort became sidetracked when the standards produced were condemned as not sufficiently academic.
Other states have been working to produce higher and more measurable standards for public schools and the last Congress even adopted a federal program to support those efforts, called Goals 2000. It has run into difficulty in the new Republican Congress, not because of its emphasis on standards, but because federal involvement in education is out of fashion.
Not only are policy makers interested in improving academic standards, but most importantly, so is the public. The respected nonpartisan group called Public Agenda recently reported on a poll which found that while Americans' support for public education is widespread, this support disintegrates at the slightest probing. Americans are concerned that our schools are not providing the basics - safe and orderly schools where all children learn at least the basic skills.
Of course, many Americans believe that schools would improve with more money. But an equal number believe that higher standards and more discipline would be just as effective as additional funds.
Governor Allen has supported higher standards in basic academic subjects, and as with charter schools, that may give the Democrats an excuse to oppose them. Certainly there are many in the education establishment who do not want Virginia's schools subject to the accountability inherent in statewide academic standards. They prefer the present system, where comparisons are difficult to make and where an ``A'' in algebra may represent a considerably different level of achievement in different school divisions, different high schools or indeed between different classrooms in the same school.
Those who want no changes in the way schools do business will urge Democrats to concentrate on simply providing more money to schools and not to support the other half of the equation that the public wants.
The Democrats in the General Assembly ought to resist that advice. They should not oppose higher academic standards because Governor Allen supports them. Equally, they ought not to support them because, on a bipartisan basis, the State Board of Education does, or because education reformers across the country ranging from teacher union head Albert Shanker to IBM chairman Louis Gerstner support them. They ought to support higher standards because they will improve Virginia's schools. MEMO: James P. Jones is president of the State Board of Education. He is a
former Democratic State Senator from Abingdon. by CNB