3 Measures on Davis’ Education Agenda Advance

SACRAMENTO —  Gov. Gray Davis’ education agenda began its sprint toward a special session vote Wednesday as education interests from around the state weighed in during the proposal’s first public hearings.

Zipping out of the Assembly Education Committee on a bipartisan 19-0 vote was a relatively uncontroversial bill that would create reading academies as early as this summer and augment reading training for teachers.

“I think this is significant and truly sets us off on the right foot,” said Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni (D-San Rafael), who introduced the reading bill and serves as the Education Committee’s chairwoman.

Committee votes are expected next week on two other bills discussed Wednesday in the Senate Education Committee that call for a high school graduation exam and a school evaluation system. Most who testified at the committee hearing agreed that the bills reflect good, but flawed, ideas.

“We have an opportunity with this bill to restore public confidence in public education . . . to take the mystery out of what a diploma says about a student,” said Carole Quan, superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District, who joined those questioning whether starting the graduation test in 2003 might be overly ambitious.

Teacher Linda Guthrie, from Virgil Middle School north of downtown Los Angeles, complained that the statewide school ranking system would be demoralizing for campuses that lag simply because their students are poor and disadvantaged.

“I’m sure that none of the senators would like to be put on a ’10 worst’ list because your bills have not passed,” she said.

The testing and ranking bills will be fine-tuned and will return for a second hearing next week, while the reading bill continues on to the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee.

“We’re moving the ball forward,” said Davis spokesman Michael Bustamante.

Davis’ fourth and final special session bill, which deals with mandating teacher peer review, will have its first hearing Wednesday in the lower house’s Education Committee.

But the special session’s fast pace, which waives the usual 30-day waiting period before a bill can be heard, is frustrating some the grass-roots interests--namely students and their parents.

“Things are moving so quickly, it’s really hard for us to figure out . . . in time to react,” said Cecelia Mansfield, a Parent Teacher Student Assn. representative from Los Angeles who lobbies part-time for the statewide organization.

From the beginning, Davis’ reading proposal was the most palatable to Republicans and Democrats alike.

It sets aside $94 million from this year’s budget, mostly to help students learn to read before the end of fourth grade. Teachers chosen for tuition-free master’s degree programs in reading would have to commit to work in low-income schools for four years after graduation.

Earlier this week, the Davis administration amended the bill to include an explicit requirement for phonics instruction, although he denied Republican accusations that he had intentionally omitted such references.

Despite the concession, the reading bill could still face a struggle with Republicans in the Assembly because it needs a two-thirds majority for approval.

Generally, Republicans are pushing for harder-edged reforms with harsher consequences for schools that do not measure up. They have introduced about two dozen bills of their own.

Senate Education Committee analyses of the graduation testing and school accountability bills echoed some of the Republicans’ concerns.

The school accountability bill is too heavily weighted toward rewards, the committee’s staff found. As written, the legislation would spend $150 million on high-achieving schools and just $42 million on low achievers.

“It would appear that more funds should be directed toward the area of greatest need, that of pupils in the lowest-performing schools,” the analysis said.

Committee member Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) added a related observation.

“My perspective is ZIP Code dictates outcome, not what goes on inside the school,” said Hayden, who advocated a more complex ranking system that would allow comparisons of schools with similar socioeconomic status and student transience.

The committee staff also questioned whether the accountability program would qualify for federal funds, which require schools to compete for the money, while Davis’ legislation advocates a more random selection of schools.

Davis Education Secretary Gary K. Hart said he would look into those legal questions.

On the graduation test, committee staff said Davis’ plan is contradictory. Davis wants the tests to be “high stakes,” or tied to graduation, but also wants them to reflect “high standards.”

If standards are set high, too many students will fail and drop out of school, possibly prompting litigation, the analysis said. If the standards are set too low, it would send a message that minimum competency is enough.

Instead, the staff suggested that a core basic knowledge test be combined with honors exams in various subjects, with requirements for passing extra honors tests increasing as the quality of education improves.