: Ignition Failure: Broken Schools Threaten New York State s Revival

Transcription

1 : Ignition Failure: Broken Schools Threaten New York State s Revival

2 Ignition Failure: Broken Schools Threaten New York State s Revival New jobs and new industries are emerging throughout New York State. But the widespread failure of public schools jeopardizes this growth especially in urban areas outside New York City, where 6 out of 10 public schools fail 90% of kids. A critical engine of opportunity is broken. Schools can be sparkplugs, but most are misfiring Cities across the state have faced unprecedented economic challenges in recent years, leaving bleak prospects for new jobs. But there are pockets of hope: The deep pessimism of the Great Recession has given way to bursts of job growth and plans for big investments, with colleges and universities at the center of the renaissance. Tens of thousands of children from Buffalo to Yonkers can now imagine a road that winds through one of those colleges and reaches a skilled job in a cutting-edge field. If their public schools can shift out of reverse, that is. Across Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, 6 out of 10 schools are failing 90% of their kids. In short, these school systems are failing monumentally a level of dysfunction that leaves children with almost no hope of reaching college and excelling professionally. Many of these schools have been failing for decades. So far, there has been little to no public outcry. This is not just an inner-city problem. Beyond those Big Four districts and New York City, there are 75 other public schools where at least 90% of kids are being failed. More than 400 school districts in New York State lack even one school where a majority of children meet academic standards. Public schools have enormous potential to be sparkplugs for the state s resurgence. They are the training ground for the next generation of computer scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs needed to power entire communities. But right now, a significant number of the state s schools are a disaster. Consider some key findings from this study of public schools across the state: In the Big Four cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, 61% of schools fail 9 out of 10 kids. Those four cities contain just four schools where a majority of kids are on grade level or graduate ready for college. Severely failing schools outnumber these schools 34 to 1. 2

3 There are 203 severely failing schools outside New York City. More than 100,000 children are trapped in these schools. Children of color pay the highest price for the state s education crisis. One out of every five African-American and Hispanic children outside New York City attends a severely failing school compared with 1 out of every 50 white and Asian children. The scope of educational failure is breathtaking Families for Excellent Schools reviewed results from the 2014 New York State examinations in math and English Language Arts for every public elementary and middle school in the state, i as well as college readiness rates for every high school in the state. ii The map below represents every public school outside New York City, using either average proficiency Average ELA/Math across math and ELA (for schools with grades 3-8) or college readiness (for schools with grades 9-12). iii Buffalo Rochester Empire State Crisis: More Than 100,000 Kids Are Trapped in Failing Schools Outside NYC Syracuse Yonkers College Readiness Math/ELA Proficiency In the Big Four school districts, there are 130 severely failing schools a staggering 61% of all schools. While these cities account for 8% of all schools outside the five boroughs of New York City, they account for 65% of the severely failing schools. In addition, there are 75 severely failing schools in other parts of the state, where nearly 32,000 children are trapped. 3

4 District Severely Failing Schools Percent of All Schools Students Enrolled Buffalo 42 61% 21,154 Rochester 54 79% 24,344 Syracuse 23 72% 15,092 Yonkers 11 28% 8,486 All other districts 73 3% 31,021 Total outside of New York City 203 7% 100,097 Using the same criteria, there are also about 148,000 students attending 385 severely failing public schools in New York City. iv That brings the statewide total of children stuck in these extremely low-performing schools to approximately 249,000. More students are trapped in New York s severely failing schools than the total enrollment of all schools in the cities of Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco and Seattle combined. v In the Big Four districts, nothing has changed The sweeping educational failure in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers has existed for years.despite the massive scale of the problem, the performance of schools remains largely unchanged. For example, in 2006, elementary and middle schools in those cities were outperformed by comparable schools in almost every other district in the state. On average, they ranked 693rd out of 723 districts (ranging from Yonkers at 649th to Buffalo at 709th) placing them in the bottom 4% of all districts. vi Eight years later, in 2014, the schools in these districts posted an average rank of 679th out of 715, placing them in the bottom 5% of all districts effectively the same result. This failure to make meaningful improvement cannot be attributed to scarce resources. Per-pupil spending across those four districts has actually increased, from $18,046 in 2006 to $18,730 in 2012 (the most recent year available). vii Nor can it be blamed on seismic demographic shifts. The average poverty rate among students in the four cities rose by four percentage points, from 76% to 80%. This slightly exceeded the state overall, where the poverty rate rose 3 percentage points (from 45% to 48%). And the percentage of children of color in the Big Four districts actually declined, from 75% to 73%. viii In 31 U.S. states, including New York, deep and persistent failure allows state agencies to take over schools or districts. ix In June, for example, the State of Missouri exercised this right and began running Normandy School District in St. Louis County, leading to substantial leadership changes and a new emphasis on accountability. x After decades of struggle, New Orleans public schools were turned over to the Recovery School District in Today, students in this district dramatically outperform their peers in district-run schools. xi 4

5 Across New York State, Most Schools Fail to Help Kids Achieve Only 19 schools in all of New York State help more than 90% of their students get on track for college. At more than 3,500 New York State schools, less than half of students can read or write or do math on grade level. At nearly 600 schools, barely one in ten will graduate ready for college. 52 schools where 4 in 5 students meet academic standards = 20 schools 362 schools where 3 in 5 students meet academic standards 1,068 schools where 2 in 5 students meet academic standards 1,592 schools where 1 in 5 students meet academic standards 1,304 schools where fewer than 1 in 5 students meet academic standards 5

6 Buffalo Buffalo Schools Average ELA/Math 42 severely failing schools 61% of schools 21,154 children College Readiness Math/ELA Proficiency Demographics Children of Color Severely Failing (<10% passing) 20% Moderately Failing (11 50% passing) 80% 39% 61% 67% Good Schools (>50% passing) 33% African-American / Hispanic White / Asian Poverty Students receiving free or reduced-price lunch 13% 19% 87% 81% 66% 34% Above poverty level 6

7 The City of Buffalo has achieved remarkable economic gains in recent years, with the unemployment rate falling from 8.2% in September 2009 to 5.7% in September xii The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, a $375 million facility slated to open in 2016, promises further acceleration. xiii In South Buffalo, $225 million in state funds have been dedicated for a clean energy and hightech business hub at the former Republic Steel site. xiv These facilities will build on other developments, such as Larkin Square, which have brought life to the city in recent years. xv Yet Buffalo s public school system threatens to undercut the ability of local residents to seize newly created opportunities. The district ranked 697th in its math and English scores out of 715 districts in 2014, despite spending $18,971 per student. There are 42 public schools in Buffalo (61% of all schools) where 9 out of 10 kids are being failed. These schools enroll more than 21,000 children. Of those 21,000 students, about 16,500 are African-American or Hispanic. Children of color in Buffalo have a 67% chance of attending a severely failing school, compared to a 41% chance for white and Asian children. There are only two schools in the city where at least half the students meet state academic standards or are college ready: PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted, a gifted and talented program, and the City Honors School at Fosdick Masten Park. At both of those schools, a majority of the students are white in a district where the average school enrollment is 20% white. xvi At 15 high schools in Buffalo, not even 1 in 20 students is college ready, including: Bennett High School (1% college ready) Riverside Institute of Technology (2% college ready) Lafayette High School (0% college ready) Math Science Technology Preparatory School (4% college ready) East High School (2% college ready) Additionally, at 18 elementary/middle schools, not even 1 in 20 students is proficient in math and English. Among them: Marva J. Daniels Future Preparatory School (less than 1% proficient) Harriet Ross Tubman Academy (1% proficient) Community School #53 (2% proficient) Build Academy (2% proficient) Herman Badillo Community School (3% proficient) What sets Buffalo apart from almost any other district in the state is that it is tackling its failing schools crisis head-on. The Buffalo school board in particular is taking impressive strides to transform failing schools and ensure parents have the highest quality choices possible. We support this bold action indeed, it should be a statewide model. 7

8 In Buffalo, Most Schools Fail to Help Kids Achieve Only one school in Buffalo has students on track for college. At the other 68 schools, less than half of students are able to read and do math at grade level. 1 school where 4 in 5 students meet academic standards = 1 school 0 schools where 3 in 5 students meet academic standards 2 schools where 2 in 5 students meet academic standards 9 schools where 1 in 5 students meet academic standards 57 schools where fewer than 1 in 5 students meet academic standards 8

9 Failing Schools in Buffalo School District Name 9 College Ready Poverty PS 42 Occupational Training Ctr. Buffalo City 0% 67% 69% PS 84 Buffalo City 0% 48% 68% Lafayette High School Buffalo City 0% 54% 84% Alternative High School at 44 Buffalo City 0% 94% 81% Marva J. Daniel Futures Preparatory School Buffalo City 0% 89% 94% Burgard Voc. High School Buffalo City 1% 86% 82% International Preparatory School at Grover Cleveland at #187 Buffalo City 1% 72% 85% Harriet Ross Tubman Academy Buffalo City 1% 88% 94% Bennett High School Buffalo City 1% 89% 79% Oracle Charter School Buffalo City 1% 89% 81% Middle Early College High School Buffalo City 2% 80% 78% Community School #53 at #4 Buffalo City 2% 92% 95% Build Academy Buffalo City 2% 95% 97% Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Multicultural Institute Buffalo City 2% 96% 95% Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School Buffalo City 2% 87% 89% McKinley Voc. High School Buffalo City 2% 78% 79% Riverside Institute of Technology Buffalo City 2% 67% 84% East High School Buffalo City 2% 93% 80% Harvey Austin School #97 Buffalo City 3% 92% 93% PS 66 North Park Academy Buffalo City 3% 81% 91% Herman Badillo Community School Buffalo City 3% 92% 90% PS 59 Dr. Charles Drew Science Magnet Buffalo City 4% 88% 89% Highgate Heights Buffalo City 4% 95% 87% Math Science Technology Preparatory School at Seneca Buffalo City 4% 91% 84% Buffalo Elementary School of Technology Buffalo City 4% 65% 96% PS 61 at 171 Buffalo City 5% 92% 99% Dr. Lydia T. Wright School of Excellence Buffalo City 5% 96% 89% South Park High School Buffalo City 5% 43% 72% PS 74 Hamlin Park Elementary School Buffalo City 5% 94% 88% D'youville-Porter Campus Buffalo City 6% 86% 90% West Hertel Elementary School Buffalo City 6% 64% 93% Frank A. Sedita School #30 Buffalo City 7% 87% 96% Waterfront School Buffalo City 8% 67% 92% PS 82 Buffalo City 8% 90% 96% Bilingual Center Buffalo City 8% 76% 90% Western NY Maritime Charter School Buffalo City 9% 75% 78% Emerson School of Hospitality Buffalo City 9% 78% 80% PS 17 Buffalo City 9% 84% 93% PS 27 Hillery Park Academy Buffalo City 10% 37% 85% International School Buffalo City 10% 40% 94% Bennett Park Montessori School Buffalo City 10% 74% 78% Westminster Community Charter School Buffalo City 10% 97% 65% What sets Buffalo apart from almost any other district in the state is that it is tackling its failing schools crisis head-on. The Buffalo school board in particular is taking impressive strides to transform failing schools and ensure parents have the highest quality choices possible. We support this bold action indeed, it should be a statewide model.

10 Conclusion New industries and new jobs continue to recharge New York State s urban centers outside the five boroughs. In 2013, the metropolitan areas of Buffalo and Rochester each surpassed $50 billion of economic output for the first time. xxvi As the region ramps up its participation in the technology-centric new economy, citizens stand to benefit in both the short run (higher wages, lower unemployment) and the long run (happier, more stable communities). However, the miserable condition of local public school systems jeopardizes all these gains. Across New York State, in small towns and big cities, the more than 200 schools that fail to educate their students are destined to put a drag on this new economy. In Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, 6 out of 10 schools are failing 90% of students. That statistic should be serious cause for concern among employers and state leaders, as well as a source of despair for parents. The 100,000 students trapped in these schools, most of them children of color, are being stripped of opportunity for the future. Without the requisite skills, they won t be able to graduate college and secure a highly skilled job. Too many New York State public schools, as they currently operate, represent a human capital engine that just won t start. The cost of such dismal results is real and growing. Stanford University researcher Eric Hanushek, who has studied the relationship between public school performance and economic well-being, concludes: Higher achievement is associated both with greater individual productivity and earnings and with faster growth of the nation s economy. xxvii Hanushek estimates that for every increase of one standard deviation to test scores in math, the growth rate of economic output increases by one percentage point. xxviii As one example of what this means, consider the Buffalo metropolitan area. xxix If Buffalo public schools were to improve their average math proficiency rate from 15% to 50%, the average annual economic growth rate for the metro area would increase from 2.7% to 5.3%. xxx Between 2010 and 2013, that would have translated to an increase of more than $4 billion of economic activity and all its attendant jobs, increased wages and overall prosperity. Tens of thousands of children are paying a steep and ever-rising price for the education crisis that is crippling too many of New York State s school systems. These children deserve better: schools with academic rigor, highly engaging teachers, excellent professional development and carefully tracked progress. Most of all, they deserve action bold and immediate steps that will prevent students from languishing in broken schools any longer. 23

11 i Results from the 2014 New York State Exams in math and English Language Arts are available at: irs/pressrelease/ /home.html ii In this study, college readiness rate is used synonymously with the rate of students meeting New York State s Aspirational Performance Measure (APM). The APM, calculated using Regents exam scores, reflects how many students are on track to begin college without needing remedial coursework in math or English. More information and the data is available at: iii New elementary schools that have not phased in testing grades, as well as high schools without college readiness data, are excluded from this study. Schools with both ELA/math data and college readiness data are considered failing if either rate is 10% or lower. iv The New York City Department of Education uses a slightly different formula when reporting college readiness rates for its schools. For the sake of consistency, this study universally applies the APM as calculated by New York State. v This calculation is based on the enrollment totals published here: Boston: San Francisco: Seattle: Atlanta: vi All district-level rankings in this study are calculated using the weighted average of proficiency rates on math and ELA exams in 2006 and All data available at: vii Per-pupil spending data accessed from U.S. Census reports published at: viii All demographic and enrollment data used in this study comes from Report Cards published by the New York State Department of Education, available here: ix See: x See: xi See: xii Unemployment rates for New York State are available at: xiii See: xiv See: firms xv See: xvi One school in Buffalo, Frederick Olmsted #156, had a 57% college readiness rate, but a 37% average proficiency rate. xvii See: xviii See: xix See: xx See: 26

12 xxi See: xxii See: xxiii See: xxiv See: xxv See: xxvi See: xxvii See: xxviii Ibid xxxix For the purposes of this example, the Buffalo metro area is approximated as the municipalities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Lackawanna, Lockport, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda and Olean xxx For the purposes of this calculation, we assume the performance of schools in Niagara Falls, Lackawanna, Lockport, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda and Olean remains constant. Note also that we are using results from the New York State Exam in math, whereas Hanushek uses both math and science results from other instruments to come up with his estimates. This is meant as a back-of-the-envelope calculation. 27