Wednesday, December 27, 2000

Schrenko says she may be forced to run for governor

By PAT NEWMAN
pnewman@TheCitizenNews.com

State School Superintendent Linda Schrenko said Thursday night that, "If I have to run for governor to be state school superintendent, I'll run for governor."

Asked directly if she planned to run for the top slot now occupied by Roy Barnes, Schrenko explained that she wants to be state school superintendent, but feels somewhat powerless in the face of sweeping reforms instigated by Barnes and the passage of House Bill 1187 last spring.

Schrenko and Barnes have clashed publicly over the bill, also known as the A+ Reform Act. At this point, Schrenko is preparing to push for reform of the reform package during the 2001 legislative session, set to open mid-January.

Schrenko had a town hall meeting on education issues recently at the LaFayette Educational Center, attended by about 60 concerned parents, teachers, Board of Education members, school administrators and local legislators.

Now in her second term as state school superintendent, Schrenko said she would seek to change the bill as it is now written... to "fix it."

"I will recommend to the legislature what you recommend... the bottom line is you have to ask for it," Schrenko said.

Schrenko said she is concerned about the growing teacher shortage in the state, and would like to see teacher retirement rules changed and offer incentives for them to stay in the system longer. "We started the school year with [teacher] vacancies," Schrenko said. "That tells me we have a problem."

She also would like to see funding restored for hiring paraprofessionals as well as for non-vocational labs. A proposal to lengthen the middle school day and eliminate exploratories in order to increase instructional time also came under attack by Schrenko. "The middle grades took the biggest hit," she said, referring to HB 1187.

She estimated that 81 percent of the state's middle schools would be forced into a longer day under the current plan. Fayette County middle schools would be exempt because of the number of students testing above the desired average.

Schrenko said five weeks of the school year are taken up with test taking, which costs an estimated $40 million per year. She recommends one test to be given, in place of the many standardized tests administered to students throughout the year.

Some of the issues parents asked Schrenko to take note of included discipline, the possible return to one diploma, and school safety. The one issue Schrenko said she and the governor do agree on is "reading" as the educational priority and focus of the upcoming legislative session.

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