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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > August > 03 > Entry
Light at the end of the tunnel for Dayton?
A couple minutes after the huge celebration of Dayton’s escape from “academic emergency,” Superintendent Percy Mack was wrapping up a press conference when a television reporter shouted out one more question:
“Do you feel like you can see the light at the end of the tunnel?”
Mack smiled and said, “Well, at least now we know the light is on.”
It was a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of what today, after all the hoopla, we probably should remember — Dayton schools still have a long way to go.
Think of it this way. Last year, Dayton’s performance index score (a measure of performance across all state tests taken), ranked 609 out of 610 Ohio school districts. Only nearby Jefferson Twp. schools did worse. Despite a strong jump in test performance over two years, and good gains this year over last, Dayton’s new performance index score is going to be 73.2, the district says. Last year, that would have ranked 604th in the state.
This is not to say the celebration isn’t justified. It is. A 73.2 index score last year would have been better than both Jefferson Twp and Trotwood. It may not sound like much, but finishing third to last in the Miami Valley after years of finishing dead last would be something to shout about.
The move to a “continuous improvement” rating has other important ramifications. Among them:
—Everybody wants to be on a winning team. Mack said this in yesterday’s press conference. Whether he’s trying to hire principals and teachers or trying to sell families on keeping their kids in the district, it sure helps to push state-sanctioned evidence in front of them that the district is moving in the right direction.
—The timing is ideally converged with the opening of new school buildings. Four new schools will open this year alone and all 28 new buildings should be operational over the next four years. This is advantageous in several ways. First, it serves as a sub-conscious reward to students and staff for continued hard work on academics. Second, the new buildings have loads of built-in advantages that should aid instruction and, if well utilized, could help the scores gain momentum. Third, it’s great public relations. The community can feel better about the tax money they are shelling out for the new schools if they think the district is making them pay off.
—On that note, this helps the cause for the upcoming tax levy. Dayton voters approved new taxes for school buildings in 2002 but have not seen a levy for operating expenses in nearly 15 years. That’s an almost unheard of run of no new taxes for a school district. But part of the reason the district hasn’t asked for new money is the fear of a voter backlash while it was ranked worst in the state. An improving district is a much easier sell for tax levy. Expect to see one on the ballot as early as 2007.
—It’s crucial politically for Gail Littlejohn and the school board. Gail and company absolutely bet the farm on serious academic gains on their first day in office when they began work on a massive reform plan. It’s been frustrating for them that five years later the best they could say academically was “the scores have moved up some.” That has become an increasingly hard sell despite many other obvious improvements in the district under Gail’s leadership. It will make a HUGE difference for her to be able to say to potential community partners that the district is out of academic emergency and making big gains in the state’s accountability ratings.
Now the challenge is keeping it going. Any slippage on future report cards would be a major setback in all these areas. Wednesday was a glorious day of celebration for Dayton, but Monday’s opening of schools brings more hard work ahead.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
Comments
By Christine
August 5, 2006 12:25 AM | Link to this
I agree that this is great news for Dayton and for the people of Dayton. I do not think the credit could go to one group. In order to reach this level, many elements were infolved including the hard work of #1 the students, #2 the parents who have stuck with the Dayton System. We must not forget the community, and of course the staff of the school system.By Oldprof
August 4, 2006 8:28 AM | Link to this
Disagreement, Scott. Slippage in the scores at some point ought to be anticipated by any realistic observer; improvement efforts are always two steps forward, one step back. The inevitable isolated slippage isn’t a setback. Remember that the district, eight years ago, was almost $20 million in the red, confused with a plethora of complex programs and no way to assess them, and led by a man with questionable sources of income; the district since then has improved in all aspects, not just academics. Now let’s hope that the voters have a long enough memory to recognize that trend and to keep electing board members who will join in the winning effort.By Rick
August 3, 2006 5:17 PM | Link to this
This is stunningly good news. And most of the credit goes to the KidsFirst team.