Thursday, May 04, 2006
All This for $17,000 per Pupil!
For years we have been documenting the poor record of academic achievement in the Pittsburgh Public School System. Now an evaluation by Washington DC-based Council of the Great City Schools has once again verified our work. Pittsburgh students have consistently performed poorly, despite the enormous sums poured into the district from city and state taxpayers—$17,000 per pupil.
The report indicted the district by noting it “sets low academic goals” and is “unable to accelerate student achievement”. It accuses the district of using standards that are high enough to satisfy federal regulators but not high enough to provide a decent return on taxpayer investment. Furthermore, the district has “a weak accountability system” and a “fractured instructional program”.
The Council of Great City Schools did not need to spend time and money to draw these conclusions. A look at PSSA results demonstrates the poor academic performance of the students. Less than 40 percent of 11th graders are proficient in math and the trend has been flat for the last five years. In reading, they fare a little better with 51 percent scoring at the proficient level. 11th graders are on the verge of entering the “real world” and yet half or more clearly lack adequate skills to go on to higher education or good paying jobs.
This report provides a scathing indictment of the public school system in Pittsburgh—a district that costs too much and performs abysmally. Clearly, a poorly performing school district works to the detriment of a City struggling to recover financially. City and state taxpayers deserve better for the $17,000 per student they are spending.
The report indicted the district by noting it “sets low academic goals” and is “unable to accelerate student achievement”. It accuses the district of using standards that are high enough to satisfy federal regulators but not high enough to provide a decent return on taxpayer investment. Furthermore, the district has “a weak accountability system” and a “fractured instructional program”.
The Council of Great City Schools did not need to spend time and money to draw these conclusions. A look at PSSA results demonstrates the poor academic performance of the students. Less than 40 percent of 11th graders are proficient in math and the trend has been flat for the last five years. In reading, they fare a little better with 51 percent scoring at the proficient level. 11th graders are on the verge of entering the “real world” and yet half or more clearly lack adequate skills to go on to higher education or good paying jobs.
This report provides a scathing indictment of the public school system in Pittsburgh—a district that costs too much and performs abysmally. Clearly, a poorly performing school district works to the detriment of a City struggling to recover financially. City and state taxpayers deserve better for the $17,000 per student they are spending.
