The scandal at the heart of Virginia’s education system

By Norman Leahy | Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 | Policy, Politics, Virginia

Jim Bacon is upset. Not a bit put-out. Not mildly irritated, but genuinely pinched. His post on the new JLARC study on the need for greater coordination between primary and higher education functionaries is this morning’s must read because it exposes the scandal at the heart of Virginia’s much-touted, and often gold-plated, education system:

There is a “college readiness gap” in Virginia, asserts the JLARC report. Upon that much, we can agree. In the commonwealth, 56% of entering community college students who completed high school the previous year wind up in a remedial English or math course, and about 24% of first-time college students do. This gap, which exists in most other states, is rightfully regarded as a national disgrace.

To any normal person not marinated in the logic of bureaucratic excuse-making, the reason for the gap is blindingly obvious: Schools are letting students graduate without acquiring basic skills in reading and math. There is no need to “coordinate” between Virginia school systems and state colleges about anything. High schools simply need to stop graduating students who can’t do the work their diplomas say they can.

And that, Virginia, is what billions of dollars of spending and a blind belief in the effectiveness of the Standards of Learning tests has produced: abject failure.

For a while now, Paul Goldman has been beating this same drum in our conversations. He told me that until very recently, the Virginia Department of Education’s web site proudly said that those who had earned a basic high school diploma were prepared for the rigors of a college education. Now the site says, rather meekly:

A Virginia high school diploma signifies that the bearer has met proficiency standards established by the Board of Education in reading, writing, mathematics, science and history.

As those standards are political creations, and local school officials routinely game the Standards of Learning (and occasionally SAT scores), one has to wonder whether even the Department’s now-diminished claim isn’t mere boasting.

If so, that might help explain why Gerard Robinson decided to leave his post as Education Secretary: he couldn’t keep up the facade any longer.

One political friend said to me he couldn’t understand why Republicans weren’t making an issue out of this. The failures and fudging are mostly (but not exclusively) centered in school districts run by Democrats. They could have a field day bashing the Democrats for protecting and seeking even more money for school systems that put social promotion ahead of learning and doom the kids trapped in those districts to second-class status. Perhaps he’s right.

Except Republicans bear their share of the blame, too. The broad mass of Republicans have been too timid on school choice, preferring to nibble at the edges rather than tackle the beast. In many ways, the GOP is hemmed-in because their constituents labor under the assumption that their local schools are just fine and radical changes are not needed — or at least changes that might inconvenience them.

Until the GOP stops feeding that illusion, Virginia’s education system will not change and the rot seen in the inner-city districts will spread.

(Cross-posted at Score Radio Network)

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