Education Proposal Criticized Accountability Group Shot Down At Hearing

People who don’t agree on much when it comes to education agreed on this: The state should not appoint a new commission to hold schools accountable for student achievement.

It was a much-repeated refrain at a public hearing Monday night when state schools Superintendent Terry Bergeson presented a proposal for taking education reform a step further.

The proposal covers everything from measuring student progress on new state tests to intervening when schools falter.

But the part attracting the most interest was a section outlining a new “accountability commission” that could be appointed by the governor. It would cost taxpayers an estimated $500,000 every two years.

“This particular commission does not appear to be accountable to anyone else,” said Rocco Treppiedi, vice president of the Spokane School Board. “That seems to be a dangerous prospect.”

Gayle Corantivo, whose three children attend Mead schools, called the proposed commission unnecessary and expensive.

The House and Senate education committees could do the job better, she said.

James Keene, superintendent of the Clarkston School District in Asotin County, said “proper checks and balances” can only be provided by elected officials.

“We don’t think we need another ongoing body of government,” Keene said.

School administrators argued the case alongside education reform critics who find themselves in opposite camps on many issues.

More than 100 teachers, administrators and parents attended the hearing at North Central High School in north Spokane - the second of several hearings being held across the state.

The proposal was drafted by a panel led by Bergeson and former Boeing Co. president Frank Shrontz.

The state Commission on Student Learning will review the suggestions in October, then make its own recommendations to the state Legislature for consideration during the 1999 session.

A biennial budget of up to $132 million would provide incentives and assistance to schools trying to improve students’ scores on standardized tests.

Maureen Ramos, vice president for the Spokane Education Association, said she worries that legislators who approved the 1993 reform plan won’t come through with money to implement the changes.

“The resources need to be there for both us and the students,” she said. “We need to have extended time for students - after school, Saturday school.”

One teacher worried schools would be held responsible for students who don’t take a test seriously and don’t try to score high.

“I don’t think we should have those students included in our mix when it comes to assessing a school,” said John Robbins, a history teacher at Shadle Park High School.

Schools struggling to achieve would first try to make improvements on their own, then get help from local districts, said Bergeson.

State intervention would be a last resort, she stressed. But her office could go so far as reorganizing a school that fails to improve.

“People lose a little freedom because they haven’t been using their freedom to help kids achieve.”