Va. ranks fourth in U.S. in education system ranking

Virginia's education system is ranked fourth in the nation, behind Maryland, Massachusetts and New York, by Education Week in its annual Quality Counts report, released today. The state ranked fifth last year.

Virginia's B grade reflects high marks for standards and accountability and students' chances for success, the same categories where the state excelled last year.

The state beat the national average in all areas measured except school finance, where Virginia received a C+ for funding equity between districts and the amount spent per pupil.

The trade publication gave North Carolina a C overall and a score slightly below the national average. The state did best in standards and accountability and teaching. Marks were lowest for school finance, K-12 achievement and transitions from early childhood education through college and careers.

In addition to the rankings, the report focused on the growing population of non-native English speakers, called "English-language learners," in schools.

Virginia and North Carolina are among the 13 states where the number of students learning English increased by more than 200 percent between 1995 and 2005. In North Carolina, English-language learners jumped by about 350 percent over that period.

Both states are struggling to find enough teachers trained to teach English as a second language, according to the report. In Virginia, there is one specially trained teacher for every 49 English-language learners, more than double the national average ratio. The report predicts that the demand for teachers of English as a second language will increase by 64.8 percent in Virginia over the next five years.

The report should serve as a wake-up call that states will face a shortage of teachers of English as a second language, said Alan Richard, director of communications with the Southern Regional Education Board. He said that because Virginia is ranked so highly, he hopes the state will take a leadership role.

"We've got to educate an increasingly diverse population to higher levels to have stronger economic prospects in our states," he said.

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com