We have low test scores for SAU34. Are your public school’s test scores taking a nose dive for the same reason? EXCELLENCE EXODUS???
Now that I have experienced it for myself as a parent, I can share what I see. I see a public school system beholden to its union and the CDC before the students or the wishes of the parents. The CDC put in more funds to many school programs than local taxpayers did last year, giving a private company more power over our children than parents.
If you were an able parent, a parent that COULD take your child out of that system, you would. That leaves the highest testing students out of the scoring, leaving many choiceless students with expensive needs and lower test scores.
We want to thank Betsy Harrington for this Op-Ed Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
The high-testing students still exist. They still live in town. They just don’t participate in the school system for which their parents are paying taxes. And most importantly, their test scores are no longer counted because those parents want better and every student that leaves our public system for the better is a loss.
The highest testing kids are the ones leaving. For standards. Leaving to get away from an agenda they see well enough to act upon.
I think the usual things can still help the big picture, like hiring great teachers, using the best curriculum, and providing the best extracurricular activities. But the real reason our school system has such low test scores is that we have driven out all of our best students. They study somewhere else. And get tested somewhere else.
My children receive all A’s and test very well compared to their peers. My son won the highest academic achievement award for his school this year. If he chooses to study elsewhere, who loses? If you drive away the top students each year, the top keeps going down a little until your school system IS at the bottom.
You drive it there by leading your best students to the door with your policies and curriculum. We stand at that door.
My father was a public school teacher. MY teacher. I’m ashamed, but my hard-working sons deserve better. It’s not the same system. I see very inappropriate content and CRT in their school library now. They get this “inappropriate” education taught to them during the morning announcements via the intercom. Confusion is taught over logic. The agenda is unavoidable and can’t be denied.
Keeping the highest testing students should be a priority.
What if you lured back EVERY student that lives in your district, even the private school kids and homeschoolers? What would your test scores be like if you could count them?
Homeschoolers are known to be some of the top testers in the state, and we have some pretty good private schools around here. If all of those students were studying at SAU 34, we would have some of the top scores in the state. But instead of appealing to top student participation in school, we do the opposite. We drive away those students because their parents expect standards.
It’s easier to let them leave, and I’m sure there is a sense of relief once they are gone, but the testing consequences are real. Losing students who test well will drive down the school ratings faster.
New residents with potentially high testing students should be lured to our system to increase scores. To do this, there needs to be a system to maintain the top students and bring in these new students. High immigration means more opportunities for new students.
The parents of the top students (and of new students) should be asked what is most important to them.
Finding out why parents remove their students (or enroll them) and then acting on those issues will improve the situation.
The school will be able to use these improvements to argue that our school is “better,” especially to others considering our school.
And our school will have made these improvements, unlike some others.
I can see that we are already trying to make a culture change at SAU34. I think that is the first step, but we need to go much further to get our best students back and keep the great ones we have. We need to ask and then act.
I’m wondering what the other parents will say is important to them.
