Educators Praise Davis’ Proposals to Help Schools

Ventura County educators applauded a range of initiatives unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Gray Davis aimed at boosting academic performance along with the pay and prestige of teachers.

Those programs, showcased during the governor’s State of the State address, ranged from $1,000 scholarships for high school students with high scores on standardized tests to $10,000 loans toward a home purchase for credentialed teachers who agree to work in poor-performing schools.

“This is incredible,” said Joseph Spirito, superintendent of Ventura Unified School District.

“I’ve lived in California since 1977, and in all those years, I’ve never heard so much discussion about education, teachers and students,” he said. “For all those people who think that California is not doing its job educating children, they are going to see something else happen.”

Such educational reforms were the cornerstone of Davis’ 30-minute address, delivered Wednesday evening to the full state Assembly and Senate. The speech highlighted many of the initiatives that will be spotlighted Monday when the governor unveils his spending plan for fiscal year 2000-01.

The crux of his educational campaign for students focused on rewarding top achievers on California’s Stanford 9 exam, a statewide test that measures proficiency in basic skills such as math and reading.

Students who score in the top 10% statewide--or the top 5% of their schools--will receive $1,000 scholarships in their ninth-, 10th- and 11th-grade years. That could generate as much as $3,000 plus interest for students to attend college or a trade school.

Davis said he expects 100,000 students a year to win the scholarships.

To encourage youngsters to pursue careers in science and technology, Davis said he plans to offer awards of $2,500 to any high school student who achieves a perfect score on Advanced Placement exams in math and science.

And he said he would call on the Legislature to provide money to ensure that at least one Advanced Placement class is available to every California high school student by fall.

Ventura County Supt. of Schools Chuck Weis said he hopes the state’s plan to offer scholarship awards will drive home to students the importance of such tests.

“We’ve had a real problem getting high school students to think the Stanford 9 exam is important,” Weis said. “So pairing it with the opportunity for money may be the motivator for them.”

The governor offered several incentives to recruit and prepare new teachers.

For teachers who agree to work in schools with performance that ranks in the bottom 50% of the state, Davis pledged up to $11,000 each in forgivable college loans. If those teachers are among the top college graduates, they will be eligible for an additional $20,000 competitive teaching fellowships.

And for those who go on to earn their full credentials, Davis said the state will give both the teachers and their schools a $2,000 bonus.

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Davis also proposed establishing five teacher recruitment centers statewide and expanding teacher training institutes, established last year for reading, to include algebra and English language instruction.

“I’m very pleased he’s putting some emphasis on the quality of teachers,” Weis said. “It’s the only variable that even comes close to evening out socioeconomic factors. If you have good teachers, they can make underachieving and poor kids look like high-achieving and rich kids.”

Conejo Valley Unified Supt. Jerry Gross also praised the governor for making education his top priority and for emphasizing teacher training.

“If you are going to raise the bar for kids, it’s appropriate to raise the bar for teachers,” Gross said. “We can’t afford the type of training that is necessary . . . so with the state coughing up some of the money, it’s really going to help.”

However, there is some concern about how much state education money will actually flow to local schools, students and teachers.

Hal Vick, executive director of the teachers unions in both Conejo Valley and Simi Valley, said the state rarely provides funds to cover many of the programs it proposes.

“With all the rhetoric and talk and money going into education, you’d think we would be doing better,” he said. “If you set up a program and you don’t fully fund it, then the squeeze is going to have to come somewhere else.”

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Oxnard School District Supt. Richard Duarte said he fears the squeeze will take place down the road, in the form of reduced teacher salaries and benefits.

“It’s great to hear about the focus on bringing newcomers into the profession,” Duarte said. “But I think if you’re looking at the long term, you have to look at how you’re compensating those in the trenches.”

Ojai Unified School District Supt. Gwen Gross said she was delighted with the governor’s proposals to fund teacher recruitment and training, but wished the state would give more financial control to individual districts.

She also suggested the state pay more attention to low-achieving high school students, where the need becomes more apparent each year.

“We need increased money for intervention for kids who are not achieving,” she said. “I hope we can balance the incentives for kids going to college with incentives for kids who are pursuing vocational education.” The governor moved beyond his education platform toward the end of his address, highlighting the need to help the elderly to age with dignity and to put more police officers on the streets.

Specifically, Davis proposed a series of initiatives to help elderly Californians remain in their own homes, rather than being placed in nursing homes. The governor wants to provide a $500 tax credit to caregivers to offset the cost of caring for older people who need assistance at home.

Davis also proposes making $500 million available during the next 10 years to expand adult day care facilities. He also wants to add 200 investigators to ensure quality care at nursing homes. And he proposes increasing to $100,000 the fine that can be levied against a nursing home operator whose negligence leads to the death of an elderly resident.

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In other areas, Davis pointed out the need to improve roads and commuter transit systems, calling on local jurisdictions to either use or surrender billions of dollars in unspent highway dollars languishing in local coffers.

Supervisor Frank Schillo said he doesn’t know where Davis has been looking, because there certainly aren’t any unspent highway dollars languishing in Ventura County.

“We don’t have much to use, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “I can guarantee we’re not squirreling money away.”

Supervisor John Flynn said he gave the first part of Davis’ address an enthusiastic thumbs up, but said the governor was off base on many of his second-half conclusions, especially about the need to beef up public safety.

“If we educate our children the way he outlined, which I think is absolutely tremendous, then I don’t think we will need all the [enhanced law enforcement] he talked about in the latter part of his speech,” Flynn said.

* STATE OF THE STATE

Proposals by Gov. Gray Davis in his address focus on spending to improve education. A1