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ELECTION ISSUES: Education Divide

Posted on: Thursday, 3 November 2005, 09:00 CST

By PHILIP WALZER

BY PHILIP WALZER

THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

Provide early schooling for every 4-year-old in the state or pay teachers based on their performance?

Though not so sharp as their differences on the death penalty, Timothy M. Kaine and Jerry W. Kilgore have constructed competing centerpieces in their plans for improving Virginias public schools.

Kaine, the Democratic candidate for governor, wants to guarantee every 4-year-old a spot in preschool. We are not investing at the time when kids are most susceptible to the power of learning, he said, citing research on the benefits of early education.

It will probably not be as tied down or defined as the SOLs, Kaine said, referring to the curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade, but it would be highly focused on reading readiness as the primary component.

Kilgore, the Republican candidate for governor, promises to craft a system to pay teachers based on their skills. His plank cites research that links learning gains with strong teachers. We have so often focused on computers and technology, but its the teacher who has the most lasting effect on the child, Kilgore said. I want to reward those teachers so they stay in the classroom.

Teachers would be judged based on student test scores and evaluations by other teachers, administrators and parents. The merit raises, Kilgore said, would be on top of annual cost-of-living raises.

Kaine said his plan would cost $297 million a year; Kilgore said his would start at $133 million annually and would grow. Both said they wouldnt need to raise taxes.

Kilgore said the merit-pay program could be covered by growing state revenues. Kaine said his preschool plan would eventually pay for itself, by reducing expenses in areas such as remedial schooling and juvenile justice.

Both major party candidates would name a task force to fill in the details. And both would offer a degree of latitude:

Kaine would require every school system to provide the preschool option, but parents would have the final say. Kilgore would leave it up to each local school board to decide whether to award merit pay.

If youre looking at scientifically based evidence, Kaine has more of it on his side, and its very uncertain on Kilgores side, said Jack Jennings , president of the Center on Education Policy, a nonprofit group in Washington. Merit pay is a concept thats been around a long time. Its been tried and has not been very successful in the past.

But Jennings added an asterisk on Kaines plan. Preschool is good, but it has to be of high quality in order to have effects.

Alan A. Arroyo tilts toward merit pay. He is the dean of education at Regent University, which is led by Pat Robertson , a Kilgore supporter . Preschool would be good to have, Arroyo said, but what we need even more are dedicated, quality teachers who feel appreciated for the effort and the skills that they bring to the table.

The Virginia Education Association, which backs Kaine, has derided merit pay as an old failed concept. But in my opinion, Arroyo said, theres a lot of teachers that may not be spokespeople for the teachers association that would like to see it tried.

Most school systems pay teachers based on their years of experience and level of education. Proponents of merit pay say it would spur teachers to excellence and keep more in the profession. About 40 percent leave teaching after their first five years.

Virginia Education Association officials, however, say that teaching success cannot be easily measured and that a merit system would threaten the spirit of collegiality among teachers. They point to failed tries in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

In Virginia Beach, Superintendent Timothy R. Jenney worked for four years to develop a merit-pay plan. I heard over and over again: Strong teachers resented the fact that they were being paid the same as everyone else.

But Jenney withdrew the proposal this year after sensing little support on the School Board and failing to overcome opposition from the Virginia Beach Education Association.

There was no political will to continue the program, said Jenney, who left as superintendent in June to become a vice president at Regent .

Denver has forged ahead, with positive reviews.

Early election returns Tuesday night showed that Denver voters approved a $25 million-a-year property-tax increase for a merit-pay plan backed by the teachers union. Teachers could double their salary over 25 years. A Denver pilot project, from 1999 to 2003 , won a positive evaluation from the Community Training and Assistance Center , a Boston nonprofit group. Test scores rose at most schools, and teachers remained cooperative.

Denver is showing a lot of promise, said Jennifer Azordegan , an official at the Education Commission of the States , based in Denver .

But William J. Slotnik , executive director of the Boston group, warned: Its very hard to do, period. Its even harder to do at a statewide level.

Iowas merit-pay system, begun in 2001 , has languished because the state hasnt found enough money for it.

That hasnt stopped other states from considering it. In September , the governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney , proposed a merit-pay plan that could increase teachers pay by more than $5,000 .

Kilgore, aware of the Virginia Education Association s opposition, said hell take his case to rank and file teachers and to parents. I think parents are going to be very supportive of this, he said.

Slotnik said the program cannot work without buy-in from teachers. Reform is done best with people, instead of to them, he said.

Kaine expects his preschool program to draw 80 percent of Virginias roughly 100,000 4-year-olds. The state does not have statistics on how many are in all types of preschools, public and private. About 10,320 are enrolled in the states Virginia Preschool Initiative. An additional 9,120 are in the federally funded Head Start program. Both target low-income children.

A raft of studies point to the benefits of early education.

One study tracked graduates of a Michigan preschool for 40 years . Compared with children of similar backgrounds who didnt go to preschool, the graduates were more likely to be employed and less likely to have a drug conviction. The study estimated a $17 return for every dollar spent.

Few states have full-fledged preschool programs for 4-year-olds. The advocacy group Pre-K Now lists two Oklahoma and Georgia as enrolling more than half of their 4-year-olds in preschool. Oklahomas results have been stunningly successful, said William T. Gormley Jr. , a professor at Georgetown University. Students who enter kindergarten are four to eight months ahead of their peers who did not attend preschool in math and reading skills.

The biggest benefits go to more disadvantaged children, Gormley said, but all children benefit. Georgia has also been effective, though not as effective as Oklahoma.

Others have raised caveats about public preschool. Richard Clifford , from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that the programs spend just 13 percent of their time on literacy activities and 7 percent on math.

Robert Pianta , from the University of Virginia, has studied pre- K programs in 11 states. The resources that are offered to kids are tremendously uneven, he said.

Gormley attributes Oklahomas success to the requirement that preschool teachers have bachelors degrees, plus the states willingness to pay them as much as high school teachers. Pianta said the key is how well they are trained.

Preschool programs, Pianta said, usually have a demonstrable effect on childrens development. It does seem to boost it a little bit. The question is, are you getting the maximal benefit from these programs?

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Reach Philip Walzer at (757) 222-5105

or phil.walzer@pilotonline.com.

Source: Virginian - Pilot

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