Scholastic Upgrade Plan Adopted : Education: A governors’ task force commits to broad student improvement, but fails to address funding.

A National Governors’ Assn. task force adopted a six-point program Saturday for upgrading American education by the start of the next century. But the group skirted what many educators and politicians consider the thorniest scholastic problem of all--funding.

The major points of the plan are expected to receive the approval of all of the governors attending the association’s mid-winter conference, along with at least a qualified endorsement from President Bush.

The task force has been working in cooperation with White House aides. The governors will have dinner with Bush at the White House today, and they will meet again with the President on Monday. The conference ends Tuesday.

The task force recommendations, an outgrowth of last fall’s “education summit” between the President and the governors at the University of Virginia, cover a broad range of educational issues ranging from student performance to adult literacy.

Republican Gov. Carroll A. Campbell Jr. of South Carolina and Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, co-chairmen of the task force, said the governors would defer a discussion of necessary funding until their July meeting in Mobile, Ala.

But some observers at the conference contended that until the funding issue is resolved, the significance of the task force recommendations is problematic.

“Without any further state or federal action (on financial support), these goals are unattainable,” said Charles Casserly, legislative director for the Council of the Great City Schools, after reading the 13-page task force proposal.

The task force report is the latest in a series of educational reform efforts undertaken in recent years by the association in response to the increasing difficulties faced by this country as it competes with other nations.

“The challenge facing us is to develop an education system that is second to none in the world, so that all Americans at all age levels are as well educated and as highly skilled as our competitors,” the report said.

Most of the report was devoted to fleshing out generalized goals for education in America. The broad goals had been endorsed previously by the governors and the White House and were cited by Bush in his State of the Union speech last month.

The six general issues laid out in the report address readiness for school, completion of secondary education, student achievement, mathematics and science education, adult literacy and drugs and violence in the schools.

Among the objectives for which increased federal help is proposed:

--Head Start. The task force recommends giving all eligible children access to the government’s Head Start program or equivalent preschool preparatory programs. Currently, fewer than 20% of eligible children are enrolled in Head Start.

--School access. The report urges the federal government “to ensure access to quality educational programs for all students regardless of family income, race, national origin, or handicapped condition.”

--Higher education. Discussing financial help for low-income high school graduates seeking to attend college, the task force stated: “The federal government’s role in ensuring access for qualified students is critical.”

Despite the atmosphere of bipartisan harmony that prevailed during most of the meeting, there were significant differences between Democratic governors eager for increased federal funding and Republicans more concerned about federal intrusion in local school systems.

“I don’t want the federal government running education in South Carolina,” said Campbell at one point during the meeting.

“You want the federal money, though, don’t you?” Virginia’s Democratic Gov. L. Douglas Wilder asked pointedly.

“Sometimes,” Campbell said.

“Well, you can give me all of it that you don’t want,” Wilder responded.

Hopes for White House backing were based on discussions between task force members and Roger B. Porter, Bush’s chief domestic policy adviser; John H. Sununu, his chief of staff; Richard G. Darman, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Education Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos.

“We’re trying to get a consensus,” association spokeswoman Rae Young Bond said.

In addition to recommending goals and objectives, the report urges creation of a system for assessing progress in attaining them.

“National education goals will be meaningless unless progress toward meeting them is measured accurately and adequately,” the report said.