Smoke Signals ' June 1991
page 7
lj Education News J
CHANGES PROPOSED FOR OREGON'S EDUCATION SYSTEM
By Lonnie Harp
A controversial and potentially revolutionary plan to
end traditional schooling after the 10th grade and allow
students to choose between two years of vocational or
college preparation is headed for its first test in the
Oregon legislature this week.
' The bill before the House Education Committee
represents the most detailed state response so far to a
1990 report by the National Commission on the Skills of
the American Workforce, which called for radical
changes in the way schools usher youths from the
classroom to the workplace.
Mirroring the report, "America's Choice: High Skills
or Low Wages," the Oregon plan would require students
by the end of 10th grade or age 16 to obtain a "Certifi
cate of Initial Mastery." After that, they would move
either into two to five year technical training and
apprenticeship programs leading to skilled work, or a
two year college preparatory curriculum.
The bill also incorporates the report's call for learning
centers to help dropouts attain the mastery certificate
and would prohibit hiring workers under age 18 who
have not received the school certificate.
"It is the most ambitious effort to take a look at the
employment and training recommendations of the
report," said Hillary Rodham Clinton, a board member
of the National Center on Education and the Economy
and a co-chairman of a panel urging implementation of
the proposals. (See Education Week, June 20, 1990.)
"Other states are moving on pieces, but in terms of
specific implementation of the commission's report,
Oregon is the furthest along," she added.
Observers say the Oregon bill has a solid chance of
becoming law. It is sponsored by Representative Vera
Katz, a former Speaker of the House and the current
vice chairman of the Education Committee, and roughly
half of the membership of both the House and the
Senate have signed on as co-sponsors.
The legislation also has faced strong criticism in the
state, however, particularly from those who say it will
"track" young people into career choices too early in
life.
Other States Moving
Ms. Clinton and others noted that the findings in the
"America's Choice" report have sparked wide debate
and led to task forces in many states contemplating
school-to-work changes.
Vocational educators have endorsed the call for
reforms, which emphasize more apprenticeships and
job-related courses.
"This is something we've been very concerned about
for a long time," said Dale Hudelson, a spokesman for
the American Vocational Association. "The response
has been fairly positive to the 'America's Choice' report
because it focuses on the need to put greater efforts on
school-to-work transitions."
The report also has inspired legislation cur
rently before lawmakers in Washington State and New
York.
Gov. Booth Gardner of Washington this year proposed
a bill that would replace many traditional school
requirements with new performance standards for
elementary and secondary students. (See Education
Week, Jan. 9, 1991.)
Washington lawmakers last week were attempting to
work out a compromise between a House-passed bill
that would phase in regulatory and assessment changes
and a substantially different Senate plan that focuses on
matching and block grants.
In New York, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo last month
proposed legislation that would use funds from the
federal Job Training Partnership Act to establish a
network of "skills opportunity centers" to provide
academic and vocational courses for 16 to 21 year olds
who have not received a high school diploma.
An aide to Mr. Cuomo said last week that the bill is
expected to be considered during the current session,
but not until lawmakers finish a tense budget debate.
Too Revolutionary?
While Oregon leaders said they were optimistic about
their reform bill's chances, they acknowledged that the
radical plan faces significant political and budgetary,
pressures.
The bill also would expand Head Start programs,
establish ungraded K-3 primary schools, revamp the
state's assessment system, gradually lengthen the school
year to 220 days, and implement parental choice
enrollment options.
But Ms. Katz, who serves on the N.C.E.E. board, noted
that the bill's provisions taken from the "American's
Choice" report have become the targets of most of its
critics. '
"There are people taking potshots at it, and, as soon as
people realize it may pass, there will be more of the
potshots," Ms. Katz said. "It is not going to be an easy
battle, but I feel pretty good about it."
Observers said that popular reaction to the plan has
been favorable, and that legislators and business leaders
have also shown interest. Thirty-two of 60 representa
tives have signed on as sponsors, as have 13 of 30
senators.
Much of the skepticism, Ms. Katz observed, has come
from educators.
"It's very difficult for the education establishment to
change their paradigm and difficult for many of them to
have a vision," she said, re-calling a recent note from a
superintendent asking her to withdraw the bill as "too
revolutionary."
Much of the opposition to the Oregon bill has centered
on its proposal for separate college and vocational paths,
which many see as formalizing a strict "tracking"
system.
But educators and business officials who helped
develop the bill are quick to counter the criticisms.
"I think tracking is already taking place," said Michael
Kaiel, deputy commissioner of the state labor depart
ment, which coordinates apprenticeships across the
state. "This creates informed choices and an education
that's a lot more comprehensive than what we're getting
today."
The bill's certificate of initial mastery would require
students to pass a test that would be benchmarked to a
national 10th grade standard by the year 2000 and to an
international standard by 2010.
Teenagers who passed the test would qualify either for
a professional and technical curriculum that would
eventually lead to an associate's degree in a chosen
occupation, or to a college preparatory curriculum
leading ultimately to a bachelor's degree.
'One Track to Failure'
Unlike the current system, Mr. Kaiel argued, a rede
signed school system would not produce a large pool of
unskilled high-school graduates.
"The way schools are teaching today doesn't connect
with kids," he argued, repeating business leaders'
complaints about the low skill levels of current high
school graduates. "They don't see any relevance to
careers. We have to start much earlier with career
education where kids go out and see people working and
talk to people in business and labor."
Added Ms. Katz: "My answer is that now there is one
track to failure. We currently have a de facto, insidious
tracking system and have had for years. What we're
trying to do is give every youngster the ability to suc
ceed." In addition to the tracking complaints, questions have
also been raised about the proposal's cost. Superinten
dent of Public Instruction Norma S. Paulus, who
assigned nearly a dozen staff members to work with
Representative Katz on the bill, said that officials are
seeking $2 million to begin implementing the program.
Oregon currently is struggling with major school
funding problems as a result of a property tax limitation
measure approved by state voters last fall. Efforts to
win public support for higher state taxes to respond to
those problems, Ms. Paulus suggested, will have to be
accompanied by significant school reforms.
"I think there is very strong support for it from the
public because they recognfrx the school system has to
be changed," she said. "We all recognize that."
'Overwhelming' Response
Deanna Woods, a teacher at Wilson High School in
Portland and a co-vice president of the Oregon Federa
tion of Teachers who also served as a member of the
working group on the reform plan, agreed that the bill
has received wide popular support.
Teachers will become more supportive of the plan in
the weeks ahead, she said. "Right now, there's not a lot
of information about the bill that's out and clear, but the
more they know, the better they like it."
"I've gotten letters from all over the state saying things
like, 'It's about time,' and, 'Whatever I can do,' from
people I don't even know " Ms. Katzsajd. "It's been
overwhelming. I've never gotten this kind of response,
and I've sponsored some pretty tough pieces of legisla
tion." The bill could face a vote in the House committee this
week. Even if it passes the full House, however, observ
ers expect the measure will face greater opposition in
the Senate.
Ms. Clinton said that, while the "America's Choice"
report is being approached differently in each of the
states in which it has spurred active interest, the Oregon
bill's fate may play a key role in influencing the school-to-work
debate nationwide.
"Every state that's working on this will develop a
response base on that state's needs and profile," she
said. "But what happens in Oregon and New York and
Washington will influence the deliberations in other
states."
-from Education Week