When does the charade end? We are constantly being told that things are getting better in Pittsburgh’s schools. Yet a report on March 17th shows that absenteeism in Pittsburgh’s schools is out of control. At the City’s high schools, rates of absenteeism—defined as missing 10 percent or more of days of school—runs at an average of well over 40 percent, Allderdice being the best at just 25 percent. Remarkably, two schools posted rates of over 60 percent.
What’s worse, the absenteeism rate definition of missing 10 percent or more doesn’t fully capture the degree of absenteeism. There is no indication as to how many students are missing are more than 10 percent.
This is all the more remarkable considering the fact that a high rate of absenteeism is a disqualification for the Pittsburgh Promise college scholarships. Presumably, those absent are either such good students that they do not to go to class or they are students who have abandoned the idea of becoming educated. In light of the PSSA and SAT scores at Pittsburgh’s high schools, it is undoubtedly more the latter explanation.
In either case, the poor academic performance and the high rates of absenteeism point to the same thing, a failed public school system. Yet, the City fathers, civic leaders and the public in general continue to support the schools with calls for more money, more programs and so and so on. All the while the future prospects of thousands of Pittsburgh’s children are being wrecked by the abject failure of the public schools.
How’s that Pittsburgh Promise program’s promise to improve the quality of education working out? What a cruel and expensive joke.
