The Ohio Department of Education’s release last week of its 2006-07 report cards measuring
The Ohio Department of Education’s release last week of its 2006-07 report cards measuring academic achievement in the state’s 610 public school districts reveals a predictable pattern of praiseworthy and embarrassing results.
Scores for small-town, suburban and rural districts continue to hold steady or show improvement, but those for urban and charter schools remain disturbingly low.
So it is in the Mahoning Valley, where suburban districts such as Boardman and Howland improved their ranking to excellent, while Youngstown and Warren public schools found themselves in academic watch, comparable to a poor letter grade of D.
We congratulate the bulk of school districts in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties that met the state’s toughest performance standards of excellent or effective in a year when standards, particularly those for middle-school pupils, were toughened. The test scores indicate that most districts remain firmly accountable to pupils and to taxpayers.
Disturbing results
Such high standards and accountability, however, bypass the Valley’s two largest urban districts, much as they do all inner-city districts in Ohio. In Youngstown, just five of the state’s 30 performance standards were met, and in Warren, only four were achieved.
Clearly the city districts’ results are disturbing. Let them serve as a springboard for immediate and concrete corrective action. Despite problems unique to large urban districts, including fiscal crises and the flight of pupils, academic excellence must remain priority No. 1.
To that end, district officials should review test scores to pinpoint areas of greatest need. Specific subject areas of weakness should also be noted and addressed. Goals to raise the bar in 2007-08 should be set and monitored.
Too much is at stake not to do so. In Youngstown, the academic image of the school district will weigh heavily on the minds of those in the community who are being asked to support a tax levy this fall.
More important, a miserable report card dooms the very ones the school system is designed to serve, its pupils. The intent of the No Child Left Behind movement is to ensure that all American pupils, regardless of race, ethnicity, income or place of residence, receive a quality education. As long as Ohio continues to maintain and accept a mediocre system of urban education, too many pupils will be doomed to be left far behind their suburban and rural peers.