10/15/2006

Gubernatorial candidates have differing views on education

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
Associated Press Writer

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm and GOP rival Dick DeVos agree education is the key to helping Michigan adapt to the new knowledge-based jobs of the 21st century.

The state is in the process of adopting tough new high school curriculum standards that will require students - starting with the class of 2011, today's seventh graders - to take four years of math and English, three of science and social studies and one each of physical education and arts.

Two credits of foreign language also will be required, but that requirement will be phased in five years later, starting with the class of 2016.

Granholm, a Democrat who was instrumental in pushing for the tougher requirements, says Michigan residents must have the knowledge to compete in the global economy.

"We've got to recognize that education is crucial to Michigan's future," she said. "We've got to win the mind race, not the muscle race."

DeVos says he supports the new requirements, but wants to make sure they don't reduce options for students who want to follow other paths to a career after high school.

"We can maintain the latitude to provide alternatives" for students who want to pursue technical or other degrees, he said.

One area where the candidates differ on high school curriculum requirements is intelligent design. Intelligent design's proponents hold that living organisms are so complex they must have been created by a higher force rather than evolving from more primitive forms.

The State Board of Education on Tuesday set curriculum standards that appear to leave intelligent design out of science classrooms, although there would be room to discuss it in courses such as philosophy.

DeVos, a conservative Christian, says he approves of intelligent design being taught along with evolution in science classes, though he says the decision should be left to local school districts.

Granholm, who is Roman Catholic, says Michigan schools need to teach evolution in science classes and not include intelligent design. She says school districts can explore intelligent design in current events or comparative religion classes.

DeVos would like to see more charter schools opened in the state. Charter schools receive public dollars but are usually independent from existing school districts. He doesn't favor doing away with the cap, but said the waiting lists at many charter schools prove there needs to be more than the 229 now operating.

Granholm says she would support lifting the cap on the number of charter schools but not unless there's more accountability.

"I think you'd still have to have a cap, but you may be able to extend the cap under the right conditions," she said.

On Thursday, DeVos said one of the first things he would do as governor is create a merit plan for teachers.

"In my administration, improving our schools will be the key to improving the economy," he told the Detroit Economic Club. "I say that we can find $1 billion in the education bureaucracy that we can invest in the classroom and in teachers - great teachers who will help our children succeed."

Granholm says she could support merit pay for teachers, with some conditions.

"We need to be all about improving public education, and there is a place for merit pay in those efforts. It needs to be done in a way that is fair and effective," she said. "If the school community wanted to see that happen, I'd be supportive of it."

DeVos backs a national movement to guarantee that 65 percent of all education funding goes to the classroom. He says that only 57 percent goes to the classroom in Michigan, ranking the state 49th nationally.

"We're the tenth-best state in terms of funding, on average, per student. We pay our teachers somewhere in the top five in the country, on average. And yet we are one of the worst in the country with the allocation of resources to administration versus in the classroom," he said.

Granholm calls his reasoning misleading. She says only 3 percent of school costs go to administration and that school administrative costs in Michigan are 25 percent below the national average. She argues money needs to be spent not only on classroom instruction but on school counselors, nurses and other services for students.

To increase access to higher education, Granholm has proposed changing the Michigan Merit scholarship, which now gives students who do well on standardized tests in high school and middle school up to $3,000 for their first two years of college or technical training.

Her plan would offer students who do well on the test $2,000 for their first two years of higher education and then $2,000 more if they successfully complete two years. Students who don't qualify for the first $2,000 could get the full $4,000 once they complete two years of post-secondary training. The Senate passed that plan earlier this year, but the House has yet to vote on it.

DeVos supports that plan, and has promised to increase access to college by combining what he called a hodgepodge of state scholarship programs into a more comprehensive one.

On K-12 education, a hot topic recently has been increasing benefit costs.

The nonpartisan Livonia-based Citizens Research Council points out that increases in school funding the past two years have either lagged behind or barely covered increased retirement and health care costs for school employees.

It warns that a combination of changes involving pension benefits, health insurance and revenue probably will be needed to keep education expenses in line with what taxes can raise for education.

DeVos says he favors changing new school employees over to a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401(k), rather than pension plans that promise a set amount based on years of service. He adds that the pension system also lets workers get guaranteed health care and retirement benefits after relatively few years of service, something he'd like to see changed.

"Defined contribution plans are employed by virtually 90 percent of private sector employers. That transition seems to be very sound," he said.

He also supports letting school districts shop around more widely for health insurance. Now, many districts use insurance offered by MESSA, an insurance company that is tied to the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union.

Granholm says she doesn't support having all school employee health care costs put into one statewide pool, as some have suggested. And she says care must be taken in making any changes to teacher benefits.

"No one wants to destroy the benefits that have been critical to attracting good people" to education, she said.

She would like to see a national solution on health care costs, which she says are burdening not only schools and other public institutions but private employers such as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

"This is being experienced all over the nation, which is why we need leadership at the federal level," she said.