Editorial Begs Central Question

On Saturday, March 7 the Rapid City Journal ran the following editorial suggesting that declining scores should raise questions about the impact of continuing budget cuts on the quality of education. For the data behind this story, click the tab above labeled Quality Indicators.

When Will We Talk About Quality?

By Eric Abrahamson

As budget cuts follow budget cuts in the Rapid City schools, the debate rages over pay to play sports, administrator salaries and the impact of unfunded mandates like No Child Left Behind. Strangely, almost no one talks about quality. Are the schools in Rapid City delivering the education our children need to be competitive in today’s economy and to contribute to our society?

A significant amount of data suggests that the quality of education in Rapid City is inadequate or in decline. Every spring, as mandated by the state and federal governments, students in Rapid City take the Dakota STEP test to assess what they have learned in reading and math. Since 2004, the District has failed every year in math and for the last two years in reading. Socially challenged students – low income, Native American and the disabled – fail to meet the state’s standards in sufficient numbers.

Parents and grandparents who are not poor, Native American or have children with disabilities should be concerned as well. Across the District, while the percentage of students who are “proficient” is rising, the number of students who are “advanced” in reading and math is declining since 2003. Ironically, these declines are most evident at schools that have been deemed “distinguished” under the rules of No Child Left Behind, including Corral Drive, Pinedale, Meadowbrook and South Canyon.

The Dakota STEP data suggests that resources matter. Schools in Rapid City with high numbers of low income students get extra money from the federal government to pay for extra literacy teachers and math tutors. These “Title 1 schools,” unlike the “distinguished” schools, have actually increased the percentage of their students who are proficient and advanced since 2003.

Does the decline in “advanced” scores matter? After all, these are the college bound students in Rapid City. Won’t they do well anyway? Not according to the South Dakota Board of Regents. In 2006, graduates of Stevens and Central high schools who went to college at a state school had a lower college grade point average than their peers from other high schools in the state. In that same period, Rapid City college bound students who took advanced placement tests scored below the state and national average in five out of seven subject areas.  

Without doubt, teachers and administrators in Rapid City work hard to deliver a quality education, but with the steady rain of budget cuts they are forced to put their fingers in the dike as the quality of education springs new leaks every year. It’s time to shift the focus of the debate. It’s time to talk about quality. What does the evidence tell us? And what do we need to do to help our children be successful?