Reforming Education

A veteran legislator says it`s time for the state House and Senate education committees to get involved in school reform. Representative Jodie Mahony says the committee should start writing public school reform legislation for a December special session. Mahony says waiting while disparate plans are argued in separate venues could doom efforts to make court-ordered improvements to state schools. Mahony says the committees need to begin meeting regularly to draft legislation for a special education session that Governor Huckabee has tentatively set to begin December eighth. The education committees are scheduled to meet jointly September 18th. Mahony is a non-voting member of the House Education Committee. Senator Jim Argue, chairman of the Senate panel, says the committees could meet as often as once a week, focusing on three broad areas of education reform: resources, including teacher salaries and preschool; program development and expanding the ability of schools to reach more children; and accountability. Posted by Mike Hellgren