ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE AND JON GLASS STAFF WRITERS
An ambitious plan to overhaul Virginia's testing of student achievement has become bogged down in an escalating battle over money and philosophy between Gov. George Allen and the legislature.
At issue is whether the cash-starved state should begin spending millions of dollars to develop and implement new tests, or whether the money would be better spent improving classroom instruction.
Allen wants $23.5 million from the General Assembly for statewide student and school tests on the tougher academic standards in math, science, social studies and English adopted last summer by the Virginia Board of Education.
Arguing that Virginia schools spend billions each year without producing measurable results, Allen has made the testing program the centerpiece of his education agenda this winter.
``It is key to the big plan of having higher standards and expecting higher achievement,'' says Michelle Easton, vice president of the Board of Education and an Allen appointee. ``Higher standards on their own are a nothing burger. Without tests, these aren't standards - they're only suggestions.''
The plan calls for testing students five times during their school careers - in grades three, five, seven, nine, and 11 - plus administering a diagnostic exam to kindergartners.
But money committees in the House and the Senate are expected to insist on a sharp scaling-back of the program when they meet Sunday to pass their versions of the state budget. Limiting testing to just three grades could save as much as $8 million, which could be funneled to classrooms, legislators say.
And Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee suggest that in return for their support of a limited testing program, they'll demand that Allen accept $6.6 million in federal education funds that the governor has refused.
The money is available under the Goals 2000 program, which provides funds to help students and teachers meet academic standards. Virginia is one of only three states to refuse the money.
"We'd be negligent if we did not avail ourselves of the $6.6 million to put in the [testing] plan," says Del. Tom Jackson, D-Hillsville. He and other lawmakers argue that federal dollars could defray the cost of testing and help cover the estimated $3.7 million localities will spend in training teachers on the new standards.
Allen, who strongly believes that public education is a state and local matter and is no business of the federal government, shows no signs of relenting.
"There's no reason to link the two," he says of Goals 2000 and the testing program.
The governor also seemed unwilling to compromise on the scope of the testing programs. "I don't think we should be compromising on it," Allen said earlier this week.
"We're spending $6 billion [every two years on public education], and these tests to ensure children are learning are essential,'' he says. ``It's inconceivable to me that folks wouldn't support this."
Many lawmakers say they support the overall concept of testing to measure achievement.
The problem, they say, is simply finding the money during a year when schools need money to buy computers and to trim class sizes.
"I say let's put the money first back in the classrooms," says Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville.
Allen's plan calls for phasing in testing next year and having it statewide in 1998. The state tests would replace three national exams and the literary passport test, administered in the sixth grade.
Exactly how the test results would be used is unclear. For example, the Allen administration and the Board of Education have not addressed whether students who fail the tests should repeat grades.
"This is not about failing people; it's about improving performance," says William Bosher, state superintendent of public instruction. "The most difficult task has been moving from the very controversial discussion of consequences to the very necessary discussion of how our assessments can be used as an instructional tool.
"If the tests are being used to assess where students are ... the sooner we start, the better."
The Virginia Education Association, which represents most of the state's 75,000 teachers, wants to delay testing until 2000.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB