The Denver Post carried an editorial last Saturday written by former public school teacher and principal Van Schoales. The current Piton Foundation Education program officer takes a swipe at public schools in general using the latest CSAP results.
The latest CSAP data reveal that kids who start out below proficiency stay there. And of those that hit proficiency targets, over one-third fall behind over the next several years. In other words, the longer the average Colorado student stays in school, the worse he or she performs relative to our expectations.
Sure, most of us know this already. Some parents keep their students away from public schools for reasons just like this (full disclosure: Although not technically “homeschooling” our family schools at home. The public school proficiency wasn’t an overriding factor in our decision, but it was a small one). Unlike many prognosticators, Schoales has specific suggestions for changes at the public school level. The catalyst for these changes has to come from leaders within the public school arena and teachers’ unions and local government.
