University Daily Kansan, September 26, 1983
Page 7
ASK assembly sidesteps merit pay
By PETE WICKLUND Staff Reporter
WICHITA — The legislative assembly of the Associated Students of Kansas, the state student lobby group, voted yesterday to support the recommendations of the "Nation at Risk" report on education — with the exception of taking a stand on the issue of merit pay for teachers.
The report, compiled last April by the National Commission on Expleience in Education, stressed the importance of college preparatory education.
The ASK assembly's decision on merit pay, the system used to reward instructors for quality teaching, came after two hours of debate by delegates from the seven ASK member universities.
The assembly met yesterday at Wheaton University for the a quarterly meeting.
THE DELEGATES from the University of Kansas and Kansas State University heated confrontation when a preliminary vote on including the issue tied at
38 votes for and against avoiding merit pay.
The delegates could not agree on the merit pay portion of the report which states that to improve education, particularly in high schools, teacher salaries should be increased. The report also states that teacher salaries need to be competitive, market-based and performance-based.
The ASK response to the report as a whole eventually passed on a vote of 56-18, but excludes the words "performance-based."
The assembly's decision to sidestep the question came after Scott Swenson, on-campus director of the KU ASK chapter, argued that the issue was too broad for ASK to comprehend without extensive study.
"THERE HAVE been many organizations that have taken a stand on the issue, but that's after they've examined the evidence," Swenson said.
Delegates from K-State said that by eliminating the words "performance based," it would appear that ASK was against merit pay.
important," Brett Lambert, K-State's on-campus director said.
"The report gives us enough information to accept the plan in concept that pay for performance is
Kipp Exline, the K-State representative to the ASK Board of Directors, said that voicing support for merit pay was important, but that ASK did not have to reveal support for any specific plan.
But Swenson said that including merit pay in ASK's response to the question would not without seeking input from any of about 80,000 students that ASK represents.
"I REALLY felt at this point it was time to relax, go back to campus, have a couple of campus-wide meetings, get as many people involved in the conversation as possible then go back in November with a clear consensus," Swenson said.
The ASK legislative assembly meets again on Nov. 12 at Emporia State University. At that time the association will decide specifically what it will lobby for when the state Legislature convenes in January.
Mark Tallman, ASK executive director in Topeka, said the association plans to compile its response in a report.
By PETE WICKLUND
Staff Reporter
Future of education discussed at conference
WICHTA — Students, teachers and administrators gathered here Saturday to discuss a topic of mutual concern — the future of education in America.
The discussion was part of a day-long program sponsored by the Associated Students of Kansas, a state student-lobby group, and the Drug and Alcohol Center of Wichita, which focused on the "Nation at Risk" report on education.
The report was published in April by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The study evaluated education in the United States and made recommendations for improvements.
ABOUT 100 students and educators from ASK member universities and several high schools from the Wichita area met at Wichita State University with members of the Kansas Legislature, state Board of Education and Board of Regents to discuss the report's findings.
Theodore Von Fange, a member of the Board of Education, said that while it was beneficial that the report had
been published, it had no information that educators did not already know, and he criticized the report for being too general.
"We have some very excellent schools across the nation, and we have some custodial institutions where students can hard time just keeping order." he said.
Many people at the program expressed concern about teacher preparedness for the classroom. Cheryl Knabe, Hiawata graduate student and a member of the Kansas chapter of the National Education Association, said that rigorous standards had to be set for teacher training.
junior class at Andale High School, expressed concern about the report's recommendation for increased high school graduation requirements.
"You're going to find people who want to be ditchdiggers and home-makers," Hoskinson said. "Why should we sit in an advanced algebra class?"
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Tracy Turner, a student from Kansas State University and chairman of the ASK academic issues committee, agreed with the report's emphasis on increasing math and science requirements in high schools, but stressed that those changes should not replace or curtail other disciplines.
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