Failing Schools

LOS ANGELES -- Faced with the prospect that 40 percent or more of the students in public schools here would fail if a tough new promotion policy were implemented, the school board is considering drastically scaling back a plan to end so-called social promotion.With California's schools in what some regard as a state of crisis, the state legislature passed a law last year ending a policy under which schools allowed most students to advance to the next grade to maintain social continuity, even if they did not meet minimum standards -- a practice known as social promotion.

A Carroll County legislator wants Maryland to give tax credits and deductions to families of school-age children for educational expenses, such as tutoring and music lessons, that are not part of their regular school curriculum.At a hearing yesterday on House Bill 564, the sponsor, Del. Nancy R. Stocksdale, said the measure would help poor families most of all, but would not exclude any families, even those that school their children at home.The bill appears to carry two liabilities -- its high price and the perception it is designed to help families of children in private and parochial schools, who have unsuccessfully lobbied Gov. Parris N. Glendening for aid for textbooks, transportation and technology.

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Brenda McShane and her daughter prayed for a voucher. They got one, and now they're praying just as fervently that the courts won't take it away.Brenisha McShane, 6, is one of 57 Florida pupils attending private and parochial schools in this Gulf Coast city -- initiating the nation's first statewide school voucher plan.The plan -- giving parents at two failing Pensacola public schools a choice among four Roman Catholic schools, a private Montessori school and other public schools -- has been in effect for more than five weeks.

AS MOST parents know from experience, even repeated threats do little good if they aren't backed up with action.That is the uncomfortable situation the Maryland State Department of Education finds itself in as it adds another nine elementary schools -- six in Baltimore and three in Prince George's County -- to its list of failing schools.This week's addition expands to 97 the number of schools statewide that have been targeted for state takeover unless they show measurable achievement gains.

When the state threatened that it might take over just one failing Anne Arundel County elementary school 3 1/2 years ago, the reaction was immediate.A top-notch principal was assigned to the school. All teachers were forced to reapply for their jobs.And barely a day went by without someone from the system's central office offering training or other help.But when the state sounded the same alarm over the past five years for 83 of Baltimore's 182 schools -- threatening to take over or close schools that don't improve, in a process known as "reconstitution" -- the city didn't respond in the same way.The city lacked enough top-notch principals and teachers to carry out wholesale staffing changes at the 83 troubled schools.

WILL THE LAST family to leave public schools please turn out the lights?It is the election season, and this campaign's list of hollow promises is topped by pledges from the candidates to improve public schools or give parents the money to go elsewhere.In 1992, it was the economy, stupid. This time around, it is education, stupid. The economy is robust, so the presidential candidates are looking for that other tender spot on the psyche of the American voter. If it isn't the paycheck, it has got to be the kids.

Six Baltimore schools -- and three in Prince George's County -- were added to the state's list of failing schools yesterday, despite overall gains by both systems on statewide tests last year.The city has 83 of its elementary and middle schools on the low-performing list; this year's additions -- all elementaries -- are far fewer than the 29 in the city and nine in Prince George's designated last year. All of this year's schools showed significant drops in performance on the 1998 Maryland School Performance Assessment Program tests, after making progress the year before.

WITH THE appointment of Robert Booker as chief executive officer of the Baltimore City Public Schools, the Board of School Commissioners has completed its most important task.Without strong, consistent and persuasive leadership, the school system will not overcome the problems that contribute to the failure of students to achieve academic success.Dr. Booker has many strengths the system needs -- extensive experience in a large, urban school system; solid grounding in the intricacies of budgets and bureaucracies, and the ability to listen and to lead.

A Maryland child-advocacy group is recommending state officials take a more aggressive approach to fixing the state's most troubled schools, including intervening when the efforts of local school boards fail.A report released today by Advocates for Children and Youth says that at many of the schools identified two or three years ago as failing, test scores have not risen significantly, particularly in Baltimore.Since 1994, the state has put 89 schools in Maryland, including 79 in Baltimore, on a list of failing schools based on their performance on statewide tests that measure reading and math skills.

Baltimore's high school students posted the worst marks in the metropolitan area on the SAT college admission test last year, with city school students averaging some 200 points below the average score of high schoolers around the state and the nation.The average score for students in the city in 1998 was 815 of a possible 1600 on the exam, which tests both reading and math skills.Students in Maryland averaged 1014 on the test; the national average was 1017.In Memphis, Tenn., a district with a similar number of students and an economic and racial makeup nearly identical to Baltimore's, the average SAT score was 1109 in 1997, the latest year for which statistics are available.

Maryland and eight other states have set up new accountability systems under No Child Left Behind that have given more flexibility and focus to the efforts to resolve problems at schools that don't meet standards, according to a report released Thursday by the Center on Education Policy. Maryland was given permission by the U.S. Department of Education a year ago to make up its own system of accountability within the confines of the act, which requires states to have a system for testing students and then giving schools consequences if enough students don't pass those tests.

Heartened by the release of standardized test scores showing big gains for city public school students, Baltimore schools CEO Andr?s Alonso is moving quickly to follow up with the next phase of his ambitious reform agenda. The department is closing seven more underperforming elementary and secondary schools at the same time that it expands three others that have proven successful. The changes are part of a sweeping reorganization plan unveiled in March and are aimed at speeding up the pace of measurable improvements in student performance.

The hiring and then rapid resignation of Brian Morris as deputy CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools received enormous media attention over the last week. Indeed, these circumstances raise significant questions about the system's vetting and hiring processes - questions that should be taken seriously and addressed. But if our reaction escalates beyond a reasonable level, it has the potential to distract our attention from the much more important news about the city's schools: Baltimore is on the verge of becoming one of the nation's top cities for education reform.

When the Baltimore school board voted last week to close six failing schools this summer and a seventh next year, it was taking its cue from the ambitious reorganization plan of schools chief Andres Alonso. Mr. Alonso wants to close underperforming schools and open new ones that offer a better learning environment. But what makes one learning environment better than another? For Mr. Alonso, the answer was always clear: Successful schools are ones with strong, capable principals and good teachers in every classroom.

Candidate Barack Obama promised education would be a priority of his administration, and since taking office he has funneled $1.8 billion in federal stimulus money to Maryland schools to help avoid layoffs and program cuts. But now he faces a thornier problem: How to fix the federal No Child Left Behind law, which critics say focuses too much on punishing failing schools instead of providing the support they need to succeed. Last week, the outlines of Mr. Obama's plan began to emerge.

Staff and parents at failing schools slated for closure said at a hearing Saturday that they wished their schools had been given the resources to succeed before being shut down. About 50 people, a few dozen of them school system administrators required to attend, turned out for the second and final hearing on a major school reorganization plan that is subject to an April 28 vote by the board of education. Some speakers complained that the hearings were held at inconvenient locations for residents of the west side, where many of the changes would occur.

In choosing Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan for secretary of education this week, President-elect Barack Obama tapped a leader with demonstrated hands-on experience navigating the pitfalls of urban public policy debates and the conflicting demands of rival political constituencies. Mr. Duncan, a Harvard graduate and longtime ally of Mr. Obama's, has headed Chicago's public school system since 2001, where he earned a reputation for moving forcefully to improve troubled schools without alienating teachers and their unions.

The number of failing schools in Maryland is rising, and more than 60 percent of them are in Baltimore, where nearly a third of the schools are in dire need of improvement. A report by the Washington-based Center on Education Policy found that 63 schools in Baltimore were undergoing some form of restructuring because they failed to show adequate progress for two years in a row under the federal No Child Left Behind law. That's a wake-up call for citizens that despite the progress Baltimore has made, including this year's dramatic rise in test scores, much remains to be done.

Maryland education officials are pushing failing schools to replace their principals and teaching staffs, according to a report released today by a Washington-based nonprofit research group. Such drastic steps are not as widely applied elsewhere in the country for schools that have not met the federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act, according to the Center on Education Policy. "I think in Maryland it has grown out of a frustration at the pace of change," said Jack Jennings, the center's president.

Maryland school officials gave their approval yesterday to plans to overhaul nine failing schools in the state. Teachers will have to reapply for their jobs at three Baltimore County and five Prince George's County schools. The three Baltimore County schools are Woodlawn High, Lansdowne Middle and Southwest Academy. In Harford County, the principal of failing Edgewood Middle School is retiring and will be replaced with someone who has gone through a national principal training program, called New Leaders for New Schools.