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School leaders do show-and-tell Kitzhaber gets earful on districts' needs By VICKI GUARINO As legislators debate funding for education, school leaders see old texts, crowded classrooms and, worst of all, too few staff to make the necessary difference in students' lives. More money can help mend those shortcomings, educators told Gov. John Kitzhaber in a forum Wednesday at Hedrick Middle School. The governor came to Medford asking heads of the county's five largest districts -- Medford, Central Point, Eagle Point, Ashland and Phoenix-Talent -- to describe the significance of state funding in terms of students. Combined, the districts serve more than 27,000 youngsters. Kitzhaber said he wants to personalize a statehouse discussion that now is "just a debate over two big numbers." After weeks of testimony, study and argument in Salem, the two big numbers in public school funding deliberations are the $4.725 million over two years proposed by the Legislature, and Kitzhaber's $4.95 million. The governor's sum is based on a study of specific costs connected with raising school standards. Local educators, mindful of the horror in a Colorado high school just a day before, talked about demands on schools that are fast becoming overwhelming. School staff are caught in a trap, Phoenix-Talent Superintendent Dave Willard and other superintendents told Kitzhaber. They are required to do so much for kids -- whether it's minding troubled youngsters, administering tests, or trying to challenge academic standouts -- that they are ending up doing too little for everyone. For instance, Willard said his staff has the expertise and ability to identify needy children, but no means to go farther. "We are too bare-bones to have the counselors to help," he said. "Reading and math (test) scores are the least of our problems." Ashland Superintendent John Daggett noted the toll that rising pressures are having on his staff. A growing number of Ashland teachers are working only part time to relieve the stress they feel in the classroom. Medford school board Chairwoman Peggy Penland said she has seen the good that adults can do for kids in programs like the YMCA and Southern Oregon Drug Awareness. Schools need sufficient staff to dedicate more time with students. "That's what kids need, time," Penland said. School representatives moved from general needs to specific services they would be able to provide if the Legislature adopted the governor's funding proposal. Medford schools could afford to hire teachers and reduce class sizes, especially in the lower grades where too many students vie for one teacher's attention. Numerous studies have linked academic achievement to small grade school classes of 18-28 students. Medford elementary schools regularly exceed class-size goals, curriculum supervisor Kathy McCollum told Kitzhaber. The larger state allotment also would enable Medford and Central Point to update aging texts. Central Point Superintendent Mike McClain drew laughter with a comment about Crater High School's aging biology text -- "We feel pretty good about it because it has DNA in it" -- but noted serious consequences for students handicapped by outdated material. "It is even embarrassing to have the students using these materials," McCollum agreed, holding up a ragged, 1988 English text. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA