MO., ILL. SCHOOLS GET A C

Missouri and Illinois schools received average grades in a recently released evaluation on the condition of public education in the United States.

The report, compiled as a supplement to Education Week magazine, analyzed data from government and private sources, including policy-makers, business leaders and educators. What they found was that public education systems in the U.S. are "riddled with excellence but rife with mediocrity."

Schools were rated on the basis of standards and assessments, quality of teaching, school climate, student achievement, and resource equity, adequacy and allocation. Overall, schools received a solid C, although the writers said resources were poor and quality of teaching was declining in most of the states.

"Evaluations such as this are good because they show you were you are and where you need to progress," said Cairo Superintendent Dr. Elaine Bonifield.

Missouri's individual score was a solid C, with a personal best of A- in the area of standards and assessments, and Illinois' had a C- average, with a B in standards and assessments for its top grade. Researchers found both Missouri and Illinois had an uneven distribution of resources to rural districts. In Illinois, the problem stemmed from differing property values in the northern and southern regions of the state, while in Missouri the problem was the result of enforced desegregation in Kansas City and St. Louis.

Bonifield said Illinois schools could improve if the governor kept his commitment to developing a new funding formula.

"One of the governor's goals is to improve the funding formula, and things could improve if this happens," Bonifield said. "Because we have an extremely high rate of mobility and an extremely high rate of poverty here, and a low percentage of people paying property taxes, we do not enjoy the amount of funding people in the middle and northern regions of the state have."

Bonifield said state representative David Phelps, whose district lies in Southern Illinois, is now chairman of the education committee and has an opportunity to help the region. "We're optimistic. We think things are about to change," she said.

Missouri's desegregation woes have long been an issue for the state. Missouri and the St. Louis and Kansas City school districts have spent a combined total of $3.6 billion over 10 years trying to erase the effects of segregation on students in the systems. Smaller and rural school districts felt too much was being spent in the big cities at their expense, and a number of political and legal disputes were waged, costing the state and districts even more money without finding a cure.

"That is still an issue and probably will be for some time," Cape Girardeau Superintendent Dan Tallent said. "The governor took a lot of flack about putting state money into Senate Bill #230 (which changed the funding formula for schools in Missouri) a few years ago, and I think some people are still going to ask a judge to look at that and see how equitable it is. I think that issue is going to remain with us another two or three years."

Both educational systems had good points highlighted by the review, and researchers seemed optimistic about the future of their educational systems. Missouri's Parents As Teachers program has been widely copied by other states wanting to encourage good parenting and early education in the home, and Illinois' new testing programs are causing test scores to rise in both the urban and rural districts.

"Our Parents as Teachers program is based at Jefferson, and we're doing a lot of recruiting with that," said Tallent. "It's a good program, and the parents and schools benefit from it."

Although researchers found many problems in public education, they said the future is optimistic if tighter resource management, stricter qualifications for teachers, and better standards and assessments are implemented and enforced. More education for less money is a thing of the past, they said, and states will have to properly finance public school systems in order to build better educations.

"A mediocre education is a ball and chain in the high-tech, information-oriented society we now live in," wrote editor Lynn Olson. "To solve the formidable problems the United States faces and to capitalize on the incredible opportunities the future holds, we will need all the brainpower, talent, and energy we can muster."

MEASURING UP

Missouri

Show-Me State not convinced education is worth major investment . More a matter fo commitment than wealth. Reform has been desulatory. Inequities a legacy of segregation.

Standards and assessment, A-

Quality of teaching, C

School Climate, C-

Resources:

Adequacy (ranks 38), C

*Spending per pupil in 1995 adjusted for regional differences, $4,631.

*State's relative fiscal effort in 1993 (of 100%), 70%

Equity (ranks 42), D+

*Relative equity in per-pupil spending among all district in the state in 1992, 72%

Allocation (ranks 37), D+

*Percent of 1994 education money spent on instruction, 61%

*Percent of schools reporting at least one building in need of repair or replacement, 27%

Illinois

State's chronic money problems are aggravated by regional divisions. Reforms are at the mercy of budgets.

Standards and assessment, B

Quality of teaching, C+

School Climate, C-

Resources:

Adequacy (ranks 30), C+

*Spending per pupil in 1995 adjusted for regional differences, $4,922.

*State's relative fiscal effort in 1993 (of 100%), 69%

Equity (ranks 44), C+

*Relative equity in per-pupil spending among all district in the state in 1992, 70%

Allocation (ranks 45), D-

*Percent of 1994 education money spent on instruction, 60%

*Percent of schools reporting at least one building in need of repair or replacement, 31%