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DEL.ICIO.USLooking ‘Beyond What’s On the Paper’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I recently attended a crowded meeting in north DeKalb, where parents spoke up on school crowding and how to fix it. The most logical solution, some say, is to redraw attendance boundaries so schools that currently have too few students will fill up, thus relieving overcrowded schools like Vanderlyn and Austin elementary schools.
Parents at Vanderlyn and Austin, however, made it clear they want to stay. One Vanderlyn Dad said he checked the test scores and parents would be fools to want to be anywhere but Vanderlyn or Austin. He said the other north DeKalb schools appear to be “also rans.”
This drew boos from parents, most likely from Chesnut and Kingsley. They say their schools are just as good. In fact, one very proud Kingsley Mom took to the mic, noting that Kingsley actually beat Austin in several categories. So there!
A Chesnut mother implored parents to give her school a chance. “We have to get over what’s on paper,” she said. She noted that children from homes where the parents are educated score high on standardized tests across Dunwoody, regardless of the school. Some schools, like Chesnut, have more students from homes were the parents are not as educated.
With test scores so important in driving a school’s reputation and a neighborhood’s property values, can parents look beyond what’s on the paper and support a school that has lower overall test scores than the neighboring school?
This is not just a DeKalb issue. Every metro Atlanta school district has wealthier neighborhoods and less wealthy ones. Are the teachers at the schools with high test scores really better? Or are the schools just lucky they don’t have any apartment complexes in their attendance zone?
BTW, I would like to apologize to the parents of Vanderlyn Elementary School. In writing about the overcrowding at their school for Thursday’s paper, I inadvertently referred to the school as Vanderbilt in the fourth paragraph. (Hey, one’s a precursor to the other, right?) Not the silliest mistake I’ve ever made in print, but it’s a contender for the Top 10. We corrected the story online, but by the time a reader discovered the error, the DeKalb and Northside editions had already gone to press. Thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who pointed out the mistake.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Susan
March 24, 2005 11:56 AM | Link to this
While I fully agree that the students who did this deserve jail time, I also believe we need to address many of the personnel issues we have in our schools as well. It is so easy to point a finger at parents and students. What about the staff? What standards have we set for our teachers/administrators. What about administrators who can not or won’t speak proper english? We have an administrator in our school who recently during a parent/teacher conference told me “I be looking in the language arts class and the students be talking and not paying attentions”. HELLO!! Sorry, but this is very unacceptable. During this same parent teacher conference, which I requested due to the lack of math instruction by our math teacher, I found the new management style to be sorely deficient in the area of customer service. Here is a parent with a legitimate complaint (this math teacher received tremendous complaints from over half of the parents of students in the classes) and the management’s tactic was to attack the credibility of the student. Aren’t the students in school to learn? I have talked with so many parents who are frustrated, but afraid to speak up to their schools because they are afraid of repercussions to their children. No one should be afraid to stand up for what is right. Demanding a quality education is our right.
Thanks
By Don
March 24, 2005 12:59 PM | Link to this
A quality education appropriate to the individual student is a right, but it is a right that unfortunately will never be realized by all, or even most, students until government schools have their monopoly on education removed by the introduction of school choice among both public and private schools funded by tuition vouchers. Vouchers exist in higher education in the form of financial in all public and private colleges and universities. Why not allow parents and students to have the right and the means to make the best choice for the individual student, be that public or private school? Two final comments: School choice already exists for the wealthy who can afford to pay both school taxes and private school tuition. Parents of more modest financial means should have the real option of removing their children from failing, unresponsive public schools. Finally, public school diehards, listen up; public schools will improve from school choice because they know they will have to compete to retain students and their parents. They fail to understand or acknowledge that their Soviet-style monopoly (think Gosplan)on education is detrimental to them and their schools. Comments?
By Susan
March 24, 2005 01:07 PM | Link to this
Don,
You are very correct. Several school systems in the north have implemented school choice amongst their districts which is making the schools compete for their students. Teachers and Administrators’ salaries/bonuses are tied to how well their STUDENTS are learning. If a school does not perform, they lose their students and their raises. Competition is healthy. School vouchers should be mandatory. Our local lea receives over $7,000 per year per student. I would love to have this money to take my child elsewhere, but I can’t. Why have WE allowed this to happen to our children?
By Shauna
March 24, 2005 01:57 PM | Link to this
Susan,
You are so right!! I am one of the lucky ones that Don talks about. I am able to pay school taxes and I have a child in private school. It’s not easy and I pay a pretty penny for it but I believe that my daughter is worth it. And believe me, we sacrafice alot to do this. But the county school system that I live in the schools receive $13,000 per child per year. If I could receive a check for that I could pay my daughters’ tuition for 2 years and 2 months.
Vouchers force the public educators to do their jobs and they just don’t want to do it.
That is soooooooo sad.
By Don
March 24, 2005 02:13 PM | Link to this
Thanks for the supportive comments. Real school choice and reform will not happen until parents pressure political leaders to support school choice as the best and most direct means of educational reform. All changes other than school choice—-smaller classes, more money on equipment, technology, more standardized testing—-will fail over the long run to improve schools in a substantive manner. In other words, everything that has been tried to date is simply a superficial change that has done little to improve student learning and performance and parent satisfaction. I can say with confidence that the state could double the amount of money spent per student in Georgia with only small, incremental results if that much. On average, the state of Georgia spends about $6900.00 per year on each student. Many private schools do an equal or better job for less money. Not only will student performance improve, but citizens will be far more content with whatever schools their children attend because they have been able to make the best choice for their kids. Finally, there is a moral imperative to school choice.
By Eric
March 24, 2005 02:33 PM | Link to this
Private schools APPEAR to do a better job and have higher test scores because they pick and choose their students. Public schools are charged with educating EVERY student, and they do a great job of it. Most private schools will expell their failing students. No wonder their grades and test scores look wo wonderful. They throw out all of the low scoring students.
By yesiamworried
March 24, 2005 02:34 PM | Link to this
Don,
Tbe best private schools, the ones that people most often mention, are thousands more in tuition a year than is being spent per student in Georgia. This also doesn’t include the high parents’ association dues, “optional” capital campaigns, and grandparents’ clubs.
I think you are oversimplifying the situation. In my opinion, much of what is wrong with education is tied to the students and their parents. We have too many families entrenced either in a culture of non-achieving or in poverty (or both).
I have seen many single mothers decide to move their children from good solid schools to crummy ones so they can live with the newest boyfriened.
Far too many people see no value in education and too many parents (regardless of socio-economic status) expect the school to do it all. I can imagine how perplexed some of these people would be to find out that they had to make a choice for their child, after all they are just “passing through.”
By Eli
March 24, 2005 03:06 PM | Link to this
When vouchers do become the norm…and they will…what happens to the kids that private schools won’t take?
By Don
March 24, 2005 05:02 PM | Link to this
Both of you raise very good points. Not all parents are attach a high priority to the education of their children; that is unfortunate but would be true whether the child is in public or private school. My experience is that most parents from all sorts of backgrounds truly want the best education possible for their children, but they often lack the financial means to obtain it. Vouchers would provide a reasonable and equitable remedy for those parents who involve themselves. Vouchers may or may not become the norm; at present, I think odds are against it for a number of reasons that I won’t enumerate here. However, if more parents and students are satisfied and content because they have had the opportunity and the means to choose a better educational option for the individual student, then the amount of conflict and rancor that attends most discussion of education and educational reform would, I believe, subside substantially. Thanks again for your thoughts.
By Robert
March 25, 2005 12:17 PM | Link to this
If all public schools are so bad, and all private schools are so good, how can you explain the good public schools and the bad private ones? Why are you generalizing so much when it comes to schools? Are all blonds really dumb?
There are many highly successful public schools, even right here in Atlanta. I teach at a public high school where our graduates regularly gain admission to Harvard, MIT, and Yale. Are we also “failing?” Our test scores are high and about the only area where we don’t excel is football (but that is another story).
Do not condem all public schools and do not glorify all private schools.
By T. Barrett
March 25, 2005 01:05 PM | Link to this
Yes, there are many top-notch public high schools in Metro Atlanta that do an excellent job and have excellent credentials despite having very diverse student populations with large numbers of students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Folks, these top-notch public schools (unlike the private schools) are educating EVERY child (from various backgrounds) and they are doing a fantastic job! These schools include Marietta, Wheeler, and Campbell in Cobb County; North Springs and Riverwood in Sandy Springs; Norcross in Gwinnett County; Decatur, Lakeside, Chamblee, and Dunwoody in DeKalb County; Cartersville in Bartow County; and Grady in the city of Atlanta.
By Susan
March 25, 2005 01:21 PM | Link to this
One suggestion to a solution to the problem is to pay the staff (administrative/teaching) to teach the remaining schools how to be as successful. Include parents from the successful schools in the mix to talk with the parents of the failing schools so the families understand their role in making their schools successful.
By yesiamworried
March 25, 2005 02:31 PM | Link to this
Susan
If only it were that easy, we could simply switch teachers/administrators around. Several years ago, our system moved a principal who had been successful at a top school to one of the most challenging in the system. While he had a positive impact in a few areas, for example, he was an excellent hirer and attracted good people to work for him, test scores didn’t change much.
The reality is much more complex than teachers and administrators. Teachers who teach at inner city schools and in very urban environments face different challenges than those in schools with no minorities and no poverty.
I do think that high poverty, high minority schools have a harder time hiring good teachers. And in some systems, really crummy principals are at the helm of those schools and that is criminal as well.
By Ernest
March 25, 2005 04:03 PM | Link to this
As a taxpayer, a legitimate question is why would I ‘authorize’ additions to an existing school when space is available at a nearby school? Redistricting is a emotional issue for many but the needs of the many should take a higher priority than the needs of a few. It is a legitimate option that should be considered .
Are teachers ‘better’ at a school with high test scores? This unfortunately is a subjective measure. There are good teachers in all schools, regardless of test scores. I will say it is harder for a ‘weak’ teacher to survive at a high ranking school than at a low ranking school because you’ll probably find more involved parents there. Those parents will ‘nag’ the principal until something is donne.