HD13 - America 2000 and Virginia's World Class Education Program

  • Published: 1993
  • Author: Department of Education
  • Enabling Authority: House Joint Resolution 84 (Regular Session, 1992)

Executive Summary:
Following the historic 1989 National Education Summit in Charlottesville, Virginia, the nation's 50 governors and President Bush adopted six National Education Goals to be achieved by the year 2000. In April 1991, President Bush outlined a strategy to help the nation's schools and communities meet these national goals. The President called his plan America 2000. The plan is focused on the recommendations that states and communities across the nation make the six National Goals for Education their highest priority for school restructuring and improvement.

One way in which the Virginia General Assembly has expressed its interest in the educational reform movement was to adopt HJR 84 in 1992. This resolution requested the Department of Education to review the America 2000 strategy, identify current programs, and develop additional programs to advance the National Goals for Education in Virginia.

The information in this report makes it clear that Virginia has been an active participant in the national education reform movement. In addition to being the host of the Education Summit, Virginia has taken bold action to change the way its schools, school division, and the state education agency are organized and conduct business. Virginia's approach to educational reform, called the World Class Education program, supports the National Goals for Education and, like the America 2000 strategy, calls for community-by-community education reform.

School reform in Virginia has much in common with the goals of America 2000. Both programs stress student outcomes, not procedures. Both seek to improve the skills of teachers and administrators, to create effective incentives for improved performance, and to encourage parents and students to become more involved in -- and take more responsibility for -- their education.

Although Congress has not adopted or funded any initiatives directly related to President Bush's America 2000 strategy, Virginia has continued to move forward in its efforts to reform public education. Virginia's World Class Education program is an aggressive and comprehensive program of reform that focuses on the realization that knowledge and skills increasingly control access to jobs and livelihoods. Virginia will continue to be an active participant in the national education reform movement. In this way, Virginia will continue to be an active participant in the national education reform movement.

Virginia's Governor, Secretary of Education, and the Department of Education have carefully assessed the America 2000 strategy and have had discussions with the United States Office of Education about our state's participation.

In October 1992, Virginia's Secretary of Education announced that the Commonwealth was joining America 2000; however, he added that our involvement has a distinctively Virginia flavor. While expressing support for the National Goals for Education, he also stated that the recommendations contained in the Virginia Workforce 2000 report and the World Class Education initiative represent the substance of Virginia's reform efforts.

This report summarizes the America 2000 program while emphasizing that the most substantive efforts to pursue the national goals can be found in Virginia's World Class Education program.

Section I describes the purpose of the study and gives a brief overview of the major components of the America 2000 strategy, the six National Goals for Education, and the World Class Education program in Virginia.

Section II describes how Virginia's reform initiatives relate to the America 2000 strategies and to each of the six National Goals for Education. Section II also describes the fiscal impact and the effectiveness of the current and proposed initiatives in Virginia.

Section III contains a summary and recommendations.

The report concludes with the following recommendations:

1. Since America 2000 is based on school reform and change, most of the concepts behind the program are consistent with the Virginia Board of Education's initiatives, embedded in its World Class Education program. Therefore, Virginia should continue its efforts to implement the World Class Education program.

2. The Department of Education staff should continue to monitor closely any further development of the America 2000 strategy, or similar program, at the federal level. The staff should carefully monitor the incoming President's plans and strategies for educational reform as they are developed and clarified. The department staff should be especially alert in the event that Congress decides to appropriate funds for programs or initiatives related to the National Education Goals or other education reform efforts.

3. The Department of Education should continue to be an active participant in national efforts related to the six National Goals for Education to insure that Virginia's programs support these goals.