Educational Disparity In Iowa
If you
looked at the Des Moines Register today, you have every right to be
confused. Two items concerning education popped up.
On the bad news front: A list of Iowa's schools that need help (according to new federal guidelines) was released.
Iowa
education officials today identified 94 public schools and 14 school
districts in the state that failed to meet federal student achievement
standards.
Those
on the list – up significantly from the 66 schools and nine districts
of a year ago – fell short in reading and math, or attendance and
graduation rates.
A full list, with reasons for citation, is published here.
On the other hand, more students in Iowa are taking – and doing well in – Advanced Placement classes.
An
increasing number of Iowa high school students are taking Advanced
Placement classes, according to data released today by the Iowa
Department of Education.
….
Iowa
students received higher average scores on the AP exams than others
nationwide, according to the report. Last school year, 67 percent of
Iowa students scored a 3 or higher on the test. A score of 3, 4 or 5 is
accepted by most colleges. Nationwide, 60 percent of students scored 3
or higher.
Whether
or not either of these statistics is a good gauge of student progress
is debatable – but what does seem clear is that we are going to have to
take a hard look at educational parity within our state instead of the
usual budget battles that happen year after year.
The experience in Olin
shows what can happen as resources continue to dry up.
Educational quality is something we cannot afford to let slip in
Iowa. On this issue, most of us can probably agree with David Yepsen. (Of course, not on all issues, mind you!)
Blog For Iowa 
Dear Folks,
I was quite dismayed when I looked at the list of schools that are in trouble. I went to Franklin Middle School (it was a junior high when I went there) and Washington High in Cedar Rapids. When I was a student at both schools they were always at the top or near the top in education excellence. I'm not sure what's going on but I remember there were always programs available for academically troubled students. I should know I was in a couple of those programs. I managed to graduate in the top half of my graduating class #250 of 400. The thing that we should be doing is finding out why these children are not doing well and go from there. We should not be taking money away from them (schools and school districts). That's like taking lifeboats away from a sinking ship. The thing that helped me was the in-school tutoring from students from the area colleges (Mt. Mercy, Coe, and U of I). I'm forever grateful for those students at the colleges and for the programs that were available. Without them I probably would've dropped out. It was that bad for me academically. The thing that scares me the most is the plight of the rural school districts with their limited and meager funds. They are the ones that will suffer the most.
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