REFORM BECOMES LEGISLATIVE BATTLE CRY

THE FUNDING DILEMMA IN HIGHER EDUCATION

(Last in a series)

Reform is a major battle cry these days as educators and political leaders pursue efforts aimed at increasing state funding for education.

Funding measures being considered by the Missouri General Assembly would link increased state funding and reforms. But Gov. John Ashcroft, an outspoken critic of the tax measures, said the reforms don't go far enough and in many cases are in name only.

Educators said the Missouri Senate's tax-hike-for-education bill would strengthen the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education. The bill states that the "coordinating board shall have the authority to eliminate academic and degree programs inconsistent with individual mission implementation plans."

The specific missions of the state's colleges and universities have not yet been established.

Ashcroft said the bill doesn't provide the coordinating board with the authority needed to really control existing duplicated and unwarranted programs at Missouri's public colleges and universities. Said Ashcroft: "It's better than what we have now in terms of stopping the proliferation of programs that are unneeded. But it doesn't allow deletion of existing programs."

Under the Senate proposal, the coordinating board would have the power to limit implementation of new programs. "But to delete programs that are obvious failures, it doesn't allow that," said the governor. "And that's an improvement that ought to be insisted upon by the people."

Ashcroft said universities should not add programs simply for "empire-building" purposes.

The House bill includes a number of "reform" provisions dealing with elementary and secondary education.

As to higher education, the bill would establish a 10-member committee of House and Senate lawmakers. The committee would study and advise the General Assembly on higher-education issues and monitor and implement the provisions of the tax measure.

Charles McClain, Missouri commissioner of higher education, said the House bill would establish an "oversight committee, which would make the coordinating board superfluous." Said McClain, "I'm not against the concept, if you want to restructure the coordinating board."

McClain expressed support of the Senate bill, which more closely parallels recommendations made by various business and educator groups that have looked at the higher-education issue in Missouri.

As originally proposed by House Speaker Bob Griffin, D-Cameron, the House bill called for a $750 million tax package. But the House capped the tax measure at $575 million and passed the amended measure Monday on an 83-77 vote.

The measure now goes to a House-Senate conference committee that will attempt to come up with a compromise bill. A tax measure would have to be approved by Missouri voters before it could be implemented.

With the revenue cap, Griffin's bill could give higher education at least $215 million; public schools at least $215 million; social services as much as $143 million; and economic development up to $29 million.

The Senate bill calls for a $456 million tax package. It would provide $248 million for the state's two- and four-year public colleges and universities and $184 million for elementary and secondary schools. Another $24 million would be earmarked for job training and development.

Much of the new money for higher education would be funneled through the coordinating board.

Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast Missouri State University, said the Senate measure would give the coordinating board the power to eliminate duplicated college programs and degrees. Also, the board would have the power to allocate much of the new tax money that would go to higher education, he said.

However, Ashcroft said that while the Senate bill includes "some significant and important steps toward higher-education reform," it does not give the coordinating board power to delete existing programs at Missouri's public colleges and universities.

As an example of duplication, Ashcroft pointed to the fact that both the University of Missouri-Columbia and Lincoln University have agriculture schools even though the universities are only 30 miles apart.

"If we are going to try to have some excellence (in education), we are going to have to make some tough decisions," said Ashcroft.

"This bill has reform in it and it is good reform," said Southeast President Kala Stroup.

Michael McManis, associate commissioner for planning and academic programs for the coordinating board, said, "It's setting up a whole set of expectations for institutional performance and accountability."

Higher education in Missouri would not receive "a blank check" under the tax measure, he said. "All the new money will be tied to better services or new services. Senate Bill 353 is not money for business-as-usual," said McManis.

"Senate Bill 353 will expand access, provide more money for grant programs, recruit more minority and economically disadvantaged students, and promote change and improvement at the institutions," he said.

McManis and other education leaders said voters will be reluctant to approve a tax bill that doesn't include education reform.

McClain said the coordinating board now can make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding programs and budgets at public colleges and universities but it has little real power.

But Stroup said the coordinating board has been effective in reviewing academic programs. As a practical rule, universities do not seek funding of programs not supported by the coordinating board, she said.

For the past seven years, Missourians for Higher Education, a group comprising representatives of public and private colleges and universities, has been trumpeting the need for increased funding tied to reforms.

Peter Magrath, president of the University of Missouri and a leading member of the higher-education group, said: "There is a perceived need and a real need to do a better job of coordination (of academic programs) to avoid needless duplication." But, he said, "I don't think there is massive, needless duplication in higher education in Missouri."

Missouri educators said colleges and universities have implemented a number of reforms, many of which have received national acclaim and are considered models for the nation. The schools have raised admission standards in line with a goal of turning out better educated students. Institutions also have been focusing on assessing how well students are learning.

Northeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri-Rolla have been singled out by Ashcroft and others as examples of what's right with higher education in Missouri. Both schools have very specified missions; Northeast is the state's liberal arts school and Rolla is a science and engineering school. Northeast has a selective admission policy that includes a cap on enrollment. It is one of only a handful of public, liberal arts colleges in the nation with selective admissions.

Stroup and Magrath said they don't envision all of Missouri's public colleges and universities becoming that selective and narrowly focused. They said it's good to have a mix of institutions with varying missions.

Stroup said, "You have to be careful that you don't get too elitist with public education because across the nation we have plenty of evidence that students with certain test scores and certain high-school education should be given a chance in higher education." Southeast, she said, needs to be a comprehensive institution offering a wide variety of academic programs.

The university is the only four-year institution in Southeast Missouri. There are no private colleges in the region and only two community colleges, she said. "If we specialize or become highly selective, then where are people going to go to school?" she asked.

As to education reforms, Magrath said: "We know that there are things that can be improved. We have been making improvements and we are prepared to go with further improvements and further reform."

But universities need more money to continue reform efforts, he said.