SCHOOLS BUY REFORMS BUT NEED MONEY

(First in a series)

Public school educators say they can live with the reforms in Proposition B but can't live without the additional $190 million the proposal would generate for schools.

Jackson schools Superintendent Wayne Maupin said: "I can't find fault with the reforms, which are educationally sound and focusing in on meeting the needs of kids. Basically, the reforms are not insurmountable; many of the things we are doing already.

"I think most people familiar with the needs of education realize Proposition B is not a panacea for all the concerns and problems we have," said Maupin. "But without Proposition B, I believe all of us are looking at very serious financial problems."

Missouri voters will decide the fate of the proposal on Nov. 5.

The legislation spells out a dozen specific reforms for public schools, most designed to make schools more accountable.

Guaranteed diploma, graduation tests:

All public school districts would guarantee the basic skills of their graduates either by giving all graduates the GED test or providing, within three years of graduation remedial instruction in areas of deficiency. Employers or colleges identifying Missouri graduates with deficiencies could request the remedial instruction. All costs associated with the re-education of the graduate would be borne by the school district from which the student graduated.

School report cards: Every school district would report annually to parents and the public information on student achievement, personnel and financial support. Information to be reported would include: elementary achievement reported by grade level using a standardized national achievement test; rates of attendance and promotion; dropout rates; ratios of students to teachers; average years of experience of professional staff; average salaries and expenditures; and sources of the district operating budget.

Alternative teacher certification: School boards would have the option to hire individuals who do not have teaching certificates for teaching positions whenever they are judged to be the superior candidate. The law would allow qualified, experienced professionals with a bachelor's degree to become teachers in grades 7-12. Teachers with the alternative certificate would be required to take an intensive 10-day teacher-training seminar and to earn six college-credit hours in education classes before entering the classroom and earn 12 additional credit hours in college education courses within 24 months.

Longer school year: The minimum school year would be increased to 177 days and 1,062 hours of pupil-teacher contact when state aid is increased $150 million. After that, each year the state money to local schools is increased by $20 million, another day would be added until 180 days and 1,080 hours are reached. The law also provides financial incentives for schools to extend the school year beyond the minimum level.

Parental choice in public schools: All school districts would be required to allow parents to choose the school their children attend within district boundaries depending upon space availability. Districts also would be able to choose to establish inter-district choice projects.

Smaller class size: ($15.3 million.) Schools would receive financial incentives from the state to reduce average class size in kindergarten, first and second grades to 15 students.

Parents as Teachers: ($5.7 million.) This internationally recognized program of parent education for parents of infants and preschoolers, established in 1984, would receive additional state money to fund services to more families.

Parents as Partners: ($1.1 million.) This would be a program similar to Parents as Teachers for school-age children. Incentives would be provided to schools to involve parents in the school experience of their children.

Children at risk: ($8 million.) The money would provide for numerous programs created in 1990 to prevent children from dropping out of school. It would include programs for developmentally delayed preschoolers, reading intervention, additional guidance counselors and nurses, specialized instruction for potential dropouts and extended-day child care.

Vocational education: ($5.7 million.) The money would create a council of employers and employees to identify occupations of critical need where shortages exist. Grants would be provided to programs capable of training people in those areas of critical need and would provide funding to update programs and equipment.

Excellence in Education Act of 1985: ($4.1 million.) The funding would be provided for programs aimed at development of the teaching profession and at encouraging innovative ideas in education.

Foundation formula revision: ($150 million.) The funding would be set aside until the formula for distributing basic state aid to schools is made more equitable. The revision must be agreed upon by the legislature and the governor. An additional $15 million would be added to the total for each of the first four years.

The reforms, local educators say, would have limited effects on schools.

Roger Tatum, Oak Ridge superintendent, said: "When we first got the information for Proposition B, we didn't see anything we couldn't live with. Some are obviously better for us than others.

"Some are great, like expanding Parents as Teachers. It is one of the strongest programs in the nation, and the state has never funded it adequately."

Tatum said the guaranteed diploma presents "no problem" for his district. "I don't think our students would have any trouble taking the GED and passing it."

The bill attempts to make schools more accountable by showing what they have done.

Cape Girardeau Public Schools Superintendent Neyland Clark said he welcomes the chance the bill gives to "go out and show our stuff."

He said: "I don't think any school district would resent a comprehensive accountability program. Our worry is that this is not a fail-safe system that takes into account the many variables we deal with. In looking at outcomes in terms of a comprehensive assessment, the state has really just scratched the surface."

Of the school-choice provision, Clark said: "Quite candidly, we'd probably be moving in that direction anyway. I do think parents should have a choice."

Jo Peukert, sixth-grade teacher at May Greene Elementary School and president of Cape Girardeau's Community Teachers Association, said, "For myself, probably one of the most important things in the bill is smaller class size."

May Greene, generally, has the smallest class sizes in the district. "The smaller class size here has shown success. It also helps develop higher self-esteem in students when they have more contact with a teacher."

The reform that would allow alternative teaching certification concerns some educators.

"I hope we have alternative certification for the right reasons," said Clark. "If a person is a really good engineer, the rewards in the private sector will far outweigh the rewards in schools; but, if a person is a weak engineer, he or she may look for alternatives like teaching."

But Clark expressed a bigger concern. "If you take a star athlete with lots of natural talent, and try to convert him to be a coach, they don't always make the best coaches. It's hard for them to understand when someone doesn't have that natural talent."

Peukert said: "We have lots of professionals who have training in computer science and technology and the sciences who can bring this information into the classroom. It's important to use those resources."

But she said these specialists might have trouble changing from the competitive world of business to the classroom. "They would need to be sensitized to the realistic goals we set for children. You have to know what to realistically expect."

Tatum said he doubts that alternative teacher certification would make much impact on the teaching ranks.

"There are some people in society who would make excellent teachers because of their knowledge in subject areas," Tatum said. "But I find it hard to picture someone with a degree in engineering wanting to come in and work at a base salary of $18,000."

Educators also expressed some concern that no one knows how much money individual school districts would receive for the reforms. The mechanism for distributing the bulk of the money generated by Proposition B, called the foundation formula, must be changed before the funds would be released.

Tatum said school districts have no idea if they would come out even, ahead or behind in funding.

"It's hard to comment on funding. Who knows what it will do for Oak Ridge?" he said.

"I think the key is that something is better than nothing," Tatum said. "We can live with the reforms, and Proposition B does promise additional funds for education in the state."

(Monday: Public schools face a financial crisis for which Proposition B may provide relief. Proposition B promises equity in a new formula to distribute state education money, but some educators are skeptical.)