Bush's Education Record Good

By Peggy Fikac
Associated Press Writer
Friday, September 3, 1999; 2:57 a.m. EDT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas has gained national attention for academic progress while George W. Bush has been governor. But it hasn't all been gold stars for the Republican presidential front-runner.

Student scores on a state achievement test and teacher salaries are up. There has been a continued drive to move education control to the local level while holding schools accountable through a statewide rating system.

``It is fair to say that since he has been governor, education has fared well,'' said John Cole, president of the Texas Federation of Teachers.

Problems remain, however, including some in the charter school program that Bush championed. The governor also hasn't been able to persuade lawmakers to approve everything he's wanted.

Most notably, the Legislature refused to pass a pilot program Bush sought to allow public funding for private school tuition vouchers -- something his brother Jeb accomplished on a statewide basis as Florida's governor.

Bush renewed his call for vouchers Thursday -- without explicitly calling them that.

Speaking to Hispanic business leaders in Los Angeles, Bush proposed that the worst-performing schools be stripped of their federal funds for disadvantaged students and that the money be made available to parents for private education, tutoring or ``whatever offers hope.''

Laying out his education agenda, he boasted of progress in Texas schools. ``Test scores are rising, and the gap between whites and minorities is closing faster than anywhere else in the country,'' he said.

Texas is ``certainly seen as a leader in education,'' said Kathy Christie, policy analyst with the Education Commission of the States. ``I think he's had a hand in that.''

The state accountability system -- which ranks schools based on Texas Assessment of Academic Skills scores, dropout rates and attendance -- is one of the nation's strongest, she said. Approved before Bush took office, it has been strengthened during his tenure.

``Governor Bush did push for early reading proficiency and got that. He pushed for doing away with social promotion and got that. He signed the charter schools bill. He called for property tax reform and he didn't actually get the tax base reform, but he did get property tax relief,'' Ms. Christie said.

Along with better teacher pay and higher scores on the state achievement test, Bush's 4 1/2 years as governor have been marked by multibillion-dollar efforts to relieve school property taxes and the expansion of educational choice through charter schools.

Bush has focused on ensuring that youngsters can read on grade level, and he played a role in a major rewrite of the state curriculum.

He successfully pushed a law meant to ensure that students are academically prepared before they're promoted and signed measures strengthening standards, targeting school safety and increasing state aid to schools.

At the same time, problems remain.

Scores on the SAT college entrance exam, released this week, show Texas still lagging behind the national average. Some leaders attribute that to the large number of Texas students tested.

There's also a gap between minority and white passing rates on the state achievement test, although it's narrowing.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has filed a lawsuit calling the test invalid and discriminatory. Other critics say it drives Texas' curriculum and narrows students' educational experience.

Average teacher pay in Texas is below the U.S. average despite a just-passed $3,000 raise, according to one survey.

Some charter schools have run into severe financial difficulties. One gave up its charter without opening after taking more than $240,000 in public funds.

Many improvements under Bush are built on the work of those who came before him and depended on lawmakers' efforts, some note.

They cite a 1984 law's restriction on class size in the lower grades as a key element in improved student performance. A revamped school finance system that shifted money from the richest school districts and lifted up the poorest was passed before Bush became governor.

``These changes have occurred over the last 13, 14, 15 years, and they're beginning to show results on the test,'' said Al Kauffman, an attorney for the legal defense and education fund. He calls Bush's emphasis on testing a detriment but praises such things as his reading initiative.

Cole, the teachers' union president, said the 1984 reforms deserve the credit for current rising test scores. But he said the governor also deserves credit for efforts such as restoring local control, safe-schools legislation, the reading initiative and curriculum rewrite.

Bruce Buchanan, political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, described Bush's education record this way: ``No one thing that is earth-shattering, and not a 100 percent record of success, but enough there to make a claim that education is one of his priorities, and he has done something about it.''

© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press