For nearly a decade, states in the Mississippi Delta region have pursued tough education reforms, and they are starting to get results. Last month, Kentucky Gov. Wallace Wilkinson signed legislation that will overhaul public education. The changes were enacted after the state Supreme Court in June found the public school system inequitable and unconstitutional. Spending per pupil varied district to district from $1,800 to $4,200. Now a state minimum, $2,900, has been established. In addition, the new Kentucky law calls for committees of parents, teachers and principals to make day-to-day school decisions. In Mississippi, Gov. Ray Mabus also signed legislation in April, continuing education reforms begun in the early 1980s that have raised standardized test scores for the last four years and increased accountability by requiring district ``report cards.'' One measure commits $182 million to curriculum improvements in the next three years; another calls for $800 million in bonds to replace aging school buildings and buses. Mabus has said he'll call a special legislative session in June to work out how to finance the plan. Arkansas' education reforms have reduced class sizes, added support personnel and expanded the curriculum, particularly language, science and math courses. A 1-cent sales tax hike and a teacher testing policy were among reforms pushed by Gov. Bill Clinton in 1983. Since then, his office says, 1,400 people who failed the teacher tests are out of the classroom, 17,000 more students are taking foreign-language classes than in 1983, 15 percent more students are attending college, dropout rates have improved and test scores are up. In Tennessee, a draft of Gov. Ned McWherter's 1991 package spells out 12 major goals, from requiring kindergarten to better preparing college freshmen to do college-level work. The plan also calls for ``performance audit teams'' in the state education department. Reforms in Louisiana have included reducing classroom size, rewarding successful schools and raising teachers' pay, though hard times in the state's petroleum industry have cut revenues. One effort Gov. Buddy Roemer is pushing is a $30 million computer-based reading lab. The states still fall behind much of the nation in per pupil spending. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics in Washington, the national average expenditure was $4,243 in 1987-88, the last year for which complete figures were available. The comparable state figures were: Kentucky, $3,011; Mississippi, $2,548; Arkansas, $2,989; Tennessee, $3,068; and Louisiana, $3,138.
