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Monday, December 29, 1997

Governor's social promotion idea stirs controversy

By PEGGY FIKAC Associated Press

AUSTIN - When Gov. George W. Bush called for a halt to pushing students through school unless it's warranted academically, likely Democratic challenger Garry Mauro said his first reaction was that he, too, supported ending social promotion.

But Mauro said his fourth-grade son has alerted him to flaws in the Republican governor's plan, which would tie promotion to students' passing the state academic skills test at key points in their school career.

"I went home that night and my 10-year-old said, 'Governor Bush came up with a crazy idea, Dad. ... Even if you've got straight A's all year long, if you flunk one test, you aren't going to be promoted. That doesn't make any sense.'

"I initially said to him ... that just wouldn't happen. If somebody's really got straight A's, they'd pass a reading test.

"Then all these people started stopping me on the street, telling me about their situations," Mauro said in an interview, citing parents of good students who've had problems passing the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. "I was wrong."

Mauro, expected to secure the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, said Bush's reliance on a state test is at odds with the governor's professed support of local control of public schools.

It would be better to get to the root of the problem by raising teacher salaries and reducing class sizes and letting local officials enforce the law against social promotion, he said.

Mauro predicted that Bush will retreat from his proposal, calling it a bad and costly idea because of all the students who will be retained.

"After he spends a little time campaigning and gets away from the (governor's) mansion, he's going to find out that you can't say you're for local control and a state-mandated test to determine promotions at the same time," Mauro said.

Sure you can, said Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes.

Bush's proposal is consistent with his belief that the state must set high standards but allow schools flexibility in how they achieve them, she said. When he recently visited 26 Texas cities, people overwhelming told Bush they want public schools to teach youngsters to read, she said.

"We spend $22 billion a year on our public schools. Governor Bush thinks it's not too much to ask those schools to teach our children the minimum skills they need to succeed in school and in life," she said.

"He thinks a number of new programs he fought and won funding for will help achieve that goal," such as reading academies.

Bush plans to propose additional expenditures for public schools, she said. She didn't have a cost figure, saying the legislation is being developed and would fit into a balanced state budget proposal.

His proposal would require third-graders to pass the TAAS reading exam to go on to fourth grade. Fifth-graders would have to pass the reading and math TAAS, and eighth-graders would have to pass reading, math and writing, she said. It would take effect beginning with students in the 1999 kindergarten class.

Among supporters is the person expected to win the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, state Comptroller John Sharp.

Sharp said he agreed that some standardized test should be in place. When students are socially promoted and can't keep up, they can get frustrated and drop out, he said.

"Too many of them wind up in our prison system costing us about $50,000 a year," Sharp said. "It is too expensive a proposition, not only to those children but to the state of Texas. The future of what this state is about is smart, healthy kids.

"Social promotion is simply something we cannot tolerate any more. The governor is exactly right."

State law already says students may be promoted only on the basis of academic achievement or demonstrated proficiency. But there's no state standard to ensure students aren't passed without demonstrating knowledge.

The Texas Federation of Teachers estimated in 1996 that 150,000 Texas students of 3.7 million are promoted every year without passing their courses. In a straw poll, association members said school administrators have overridden teachers' grades.

While strongly opposing social promotion, the federation doesn't want to use TAAS as the sole way to stop it, said John O'Sullivan of the federation.

"We think the more appropriate stopper for social promotion is a reassertion of the teacher's grading authority," he said. "We're not saying standardized tests shouldn't play any role ... we don't support it as the sole trigger."

Brenda Urps, a special education teacher in Austin who also has taught regular classes, added, "I'm totally against social promotion, but I guess I have a problem with students being judged on whether or not they can pass state-mandated test. Some kids just do not do well at all on paper-and-pencil tests."

Superintendent Jesus Chavez of the Harlingen Independent School District, however, said he has no objection to using TAAS to ensure students are ready to move on.

"There's got to be some measure," he said. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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