Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Profiles in Cowardice
The state Education Secretary has finally made the decision to shut down the Duquesne School District’s high school. After years of substandard academic performance, with skyrocketing costs, he will ask the state Legislature to grant him the power to dissolve the school. They should grant his request immediately, but with modifications.
The rest of the Secretary’s plan involves sending the approximately 250 high-school students to other public high schools in the area on a tuition basis. This is a non-solution and should be scrapped immediately. There’s a big problem with this proposal and it involves the readiness of Duquesne students and their assimilation into other school districts.
According to their PSSA scores from 2006, the students in the Duquesne school district scored below 50 percent efficiency on the reading portion of the exam. That’s all grade levels who took the exam, third through eighth and eleventh grades. The eighth and eleventh grade classes, who will be transferred into another district not only did poorly on the reading part of the exam, but on the math portion as well—26.3 and 48.8 percent respectively. Placing them into another school whose students are performing better, and since the Duquesne school district is at or near the bottom of the state’s ranking, nearly all districts are better, will only put the Duquesne students at a severe disadvantage.
There are two better solutions to this problem. The first involves giving parents a voucher for tuition and letting them send their children to a school that best suit their needs. Not only will this give the students the best chance of succeeding in school, but it would save the taxpayers money. The most recent figures show per pupil costs in Duquesne at more than $20,000—most of this being picked up by state taxpayers. Giving parents a voucher for $10,000 would save money and allow them to pick from a plethora of private and public schools. This system has been very effective in other areas, such as Cleveland, Washington, DC, and Milwaukee with low-income, low-achieving students.
Given that vouchers in Pennsylvania have been vehemently resisted by teacher’s unions, another solution may be more palatable. Hire a private company to come in and take over the Duquesne high school. The company would have complete control over the academic curriculum as well as disciplinary measures. There are several private education firms operating schools in low-income areas who have been very successful with these students and at a cost that would be much lower than the current per-pupil allotment. This solution not only keeps students in Duquesne, an option favored by parents, but it gives them a better chance at academic success.
But these are not choices the Secretary of Education is giving the parents and children of Duquesne. Instead of being bold and offering real solutions, he offers more of the same, no doubt from fear of teacher unions. However, the cure for the ailing Duquesne school district needs to be much stronger—he needs to give these students the best chance for success, and that chance lies with the school choice.
The rest of the Secretary’s plan involves sending the approximately 250 high-school students to other public high schools in the area on a tuition basis. This is a non-solution and should be scrapped immediately. There’s a big problem with this proposal and it involves the readiness of Duquesne students and their assimilation into other school districts.
According to their PSSA scores from 2006, the students in the Duquesne school district scored below 50 percent efficiency on the reading portion of the exam. That’s all grade levels who took the exam, third through eighth and eleventh grades. The eighth and eleventh grade classes, who will be transferred into another district not only did poorly on the reading part of the exam, but on the math portion as well—26.3 and 48.8 percent respectively. Placing them into another school whose students are performing better, and since the Duquesne school district is at or near the bottom of the state’s ranking, nearly all districts are better, will only put the Duquesne students at a severe disadvantage.
There are two better solutions to this problem. The first involves giving parents a voucher for tuition and letting them send their children to a school that best suit their needs. Not only will this give the students the best chance of succeeding in school, but it would save the taxpayers money. The most recent figures show per pupil costs in Duquesne at more than $20,000—most of this being picked up by state taxpayers. Giving parents a voucher for $10,000 would save money and allow them to pick from a plethora of private and public schools. This system has been very effective in other areas, such as Cleveland, Washington, DC, and Milwaukee with low-income, low-achieving students.
Given that vouchers in Pennsylvania have been vehemently resisted by teacher’s unions, another solution may be more palatable. Hire a private company to come in and take over the Duquesne high school. The company would have complete control over the academic curriculum as well as disciplinary measures. There are several private education firms operating schools in low-income areas who have been very successful with these students and at a cost that would be much lower than the current per-pupil allotment. This solution not only keeps students in Duquesne, an option favored by parents, but it gives them a better chance at academic success.
But these are not choices the Secretary of Education is giving the parents and children of Duquesne. Instead of being bold and offering real solutions, he offers more of the same, no doubt from fear of teacher unions. However, the cure for the ailing Duquesne school district needs to be much stronger—he needs to give these students the best chance for success, and that chance lies with the school choice.
