Revised School-Year Plan Still Unpopular

Gov. Gray Davis’ scaled-down plan to extend the middle school year received a lukewarm reception Wednesday from a key group of lawmakers.

Davis wanted to extend the school year for more than 1 million students by six weeks in a bid to bolster their test scores. But facing opposition from the powerful California Teachers Assn. and both chairs of the Legislature’s education committees, his administration agreed this week to reduce the amount of additional class time to four weeks.

Money saved by shaving 10 days from the voluntary program would by used to fund grants for schools scoring in the lowest two levels of the Academic Performance Index.

Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer was among those who testified Wednesday in support of the legislation. He told members of the Senate Education Committee that the Los Angeles Unified School District has been spending money to improve students’ reading and math skills and that extra time in the classroom would complement those efforts.

“A focus on middle school is the right focus,” Romer said.

But state Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), who heads the Senate Education Committee, said the scaled-back measure still fails to focus enough on students with the most needs, or to dedicate enough money to them. He also questioned whether all students need to spend four additional weeks in school, which could rob them of rich experiences outside the classroom.

“Kids I know don’t need much more,” Vasconcellos said. His committee may vote today on the measure, SB 1020 by Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier).

Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) also questioned why the governor’s proposal failed to set aside even more money for low-performing schools. “Why can’t we commit more resources needed in middle school to the schools who need it the most?” Ortiz said.

A lobbyist for the California Teachers Assn. testified against the bill, saying the union wants the money spent on low-performing schools and on incentives that will allow school districts to attract and retain credentialed teachers.

Reducing the number of additional weeks from six to four would cut the amount of funding schools receive for participating in the program from $770 per student to $514. The difference would fund grants for the low-performing schools.

The grants are expected to total at least $100 per student.