STATE GOALS OUTLINED FOR EDUCATION MORE FLEXIBILITY IN SPENDING FOR HIGH SCHOOLS PROPOSED.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Sacramento Bureau

To help high schools better prepare their graduates to succeed in college or the work force, state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell proposed Wednesday giving principals more flexibility in spending $450 million in state money.

In his first State of Education address since being elected in 2002, O'Connell also called for improving the quality of teaching at high schools and better preparing secondary students to attend four-year universities.

``High school should be the gateway to opportunity for all of our students,'' O'Connell said. ``It is the place where ... dreams are born, knowledge and skills learned and lifelong habits forged.''

O'Connell said he'd asked the Legislature to give high schools more flexibility in how they spend some $450 million for more than a dozen existing programs, such as Advanced Placement, class-size reduction and dropout prevention. Schools that wanted to participate would have to meet academic targets.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has also proposed loosening the spending requirements on school districts, but to a greater extent than O'Connell's plan. Schwarzenegger's budget calls for freeing up $2 billion from 22 programs for schools to spend as they see fit.

Schwarzenegger's Education Secretary Richard Riordan said he generally approved of O'Connell's speech, particularly his call for a new emphasis on high schools.

Right now, he said, schools have far too many requirements that prevent them from focusing on basic educational subjects.

``We want to hold the schools accountable for kids reading, writing, math and science and not all these fancy subjects,'' Riordan said. ``This money is being used for all kinds of weird things.''

Riordan said he is looking to cooperate in a ``team effort'' among himself, O'Connell, the Legislature and the state Board of Education to improve the system.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Roy Romer also applauded O'Connell's goals, saying turning around the district's failing high schools is a top priority.

``I appreciate O'Connell's focus on this because it's much needed,'' Romer said. ``We need to focus on improving the whole performance of high schools.''

O'Connell also wants to lower bureaucratic requirements on all schools by focusing on the amount of data collection they now do. School officials, he said, spend too much time collecting and reporting the same data in different ways for different state programs.

State Sen. Deirdre ``Dede'' Alpert, D-San Diego, a member of the Senate Education Committee, said she agrees with O'Connell's overall vision, but added it will take time to implement.

Focusing on high school, she said, will be particularly challenging for the state.

``A lot of people felt if you make the change in elementary school, over time that's going to be the best bang for the buck, because by the time those kids get in high school, they'll have a good foundation,'' said Alpert.

Staff Writer Jennifer Radcliffe contributed to this report.

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com