Bucks
Book Club Public Education
Dear Friends,
Good morning. I thought about Bucks County public schools last week as my book club met to discuss “Among Schoolchildren” by Tracy Kidder. Written in 1989, Kidder takes us through the ups and downs of a fifth grade teacher in a very poor neighborhood of Holyoke, Massachusetts.
The book is an easy read. I was fascinated with it because Chris Zajac is an excellent, underpaid, over stressed public school teacher. Every excellent teacher can relate to the story about Zajac’s academic year.
America’s public schools continue to be on the front burner. Unfortunately, there’s a disconnect. It’s similar to our attitudes about the U.S. Congress. While Americans believe that the Congress is inept (polls continue to show dismal approval rates…in the 20 percentile range), most say that they are happy with their congressman or woman. And it’s the same with public education. Most Americans feel that public education is on the wrong track but believe that their local school is doing just fine.
In report
after report, we read that American students rank well below their Asian and
European peers in math, reading and science. “The United States is losing its
competitive Edge,” the New York Times headline warned (Feb. 25). “The
competitive edge of the U.S. economy has eroded sharply over the last decade,
according to a new study by a nonpartisan research group (Information
Technology and Innovation Foundation),” the
The components of the study are venture capital investment, scientific researchers, spending on research and EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT.
Further, a Morning Call story (Feb. 26) about the lack of quality education in the state was particularly troubling. “The majority of school districts in Pennsylvania can’t adequately show that all of their high school graduates have the math and reading skills needed to succeed in the work force,” Genevieve Marshall wrote. “The Rendell administration has pushed for a state-mandated high school graduation exam but its efforts have been stonewalled in the state legislature.”
Why?
I think it’s all about local control. Politicians at every level, from school boards to congress, preach local control. ‘Local control,’ they claim, ‘is the only way to guarantee a quality education.’
What absolute rubbish! Local control does not assure that students will graduate with competency in reading and math. Look at that Morning Call story about school districts graduating children who have not mastered reading and math.
Only 18 of the 418 school districts that participated in the Penn State study measured up, the Morning Call said. But there are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania, not 418. That means that 83 school districts did not participate in the study.
Districts were promised that their identities and their individual results would not be revealed by the study’s authors or state officials. I believe that school districts would not have participated if the results were made public.
Here’s what State Representative Marguerite Quinn (R-143rd) had to say in her Feb. 26 email to me. “To the best of my knowledge, every school administration and school board in Bucks County [13 school districts] opposes these exams.”
My bet is that none of the Bucks County school districts wanted taxpayers to discover that they were graduating students who lacked the math and reading skills necessary to compete in college or the work place.
In the book that we discussed, author Tracy Kidder asked several critical questions. If we expect today’s children to lead the world tomorrow, why do we pay starting teachers one third of what they can earn as a beginning lawyer, doctor, or engineer? Are we attracting the brightest and most motivated to seek teaching as a profession? With the advent of tenure and unions, is it impossible to fire incompetent teachers? Is leaving the classroom to seek administrative positions the only way for a teacher to accelerate her/his salary? Do the best teachers quit soonest?
Our book club talked about America’s city schools, like Philadelphia, where 50 percent of the children do not graduate. We concluded that the lack of parenting…especially the absence of fathers in American cities…contributes to this growing disaster. Lack of quality teaching is just as important. That’s why finding and paying for the highest quality teacher is so important.
David Hastings is a member of our book club. He suggested “Among Schoolchildren” because his son, John, was an instructor in one of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods. For three years, he taught fourth graders in PS 56 in the Bronx. He had 17 books for 35 students. In his 40’s, John Hastings had an epiphany. He took a six-week cram course to prepare him for the rigors of teaching in New York City’s public schools
I wasn’t surprised to hear his mother tell me that he left PS 56 and now teaches at a private school in New Canaan, Connecticut. Today, he leads a more calm life, teaching children from two-parent homes in affluent neighborhoods…a far cry from PS 56.
Alas, the quality of America’s public schools is determined by zip code. Real estate taxes are the principle source of school revenue. Thanks to the real estate tax yield, students in the New Hope-Solebury or Central Bucks school districts have more resources available to them than the Quakertown and Upper Perkiomen schools do.
Next week, I’ll share my conversations with six area school superintendents and four legislators on the subject of Governor Rendell’s most recent trial balloon. Several weeks ago, he proposed that Pennsylvania could improve education and save tons of money by reducing the number of schools districts from 501 to 100. Would the New Hope-Solebury or Palisades or Morrisville School districts be merged into larger school districts? Would they disappear? Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith