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State's list of underachieving local schools sparks debate

BY JORGE BARRIENTOS, Californian staff writer
jbarrientos@bakersfield.com | Saturday, Jul 24 2010 12:00 PM

Last Updated Saturday, Jul 24 2010 12:00 PM

One school is in one of the highest-achieving districts in Kern County and just a few points away from reaching benchmarks. Another school opened just two years ago in south Bakersfield and has made gains in test scores.

And a school in Tehachapi earlier this year earned the state's top award for public schools -- the California Distinguished Schools Award.

What do these seemingly accomplished schools -- Del Rio Elementary in Rosedale Union School District, Granite Point Elementary in Greenfield Union School District and Golden Hills Elementary in Tehachapi Unified School District, respectively -- have in common?

They all made a preliminary list of 1,000 public schools in the state that are underachieving. They will be forced to tell parents they can transfer their children to a better school in or outside their district.

The list will be finalized in a few weeks and likely won't change much, state officials say. Local school leaders say the rules that go along with the list likely won't affect student movement.

What the list will do to schools, locals say, is tarnish their reputation.

THE LAW

Senate Bill X5 4 requires the state to create a list of the 1,000 worst-performing schools using test scores and state rankings, and is meant to give parents an easier way out of them, said Hilary McLean, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Education.

It was produced to make California more competitive for the federal Race to Top, a competitive grant program for states with innovative, reforming education policies.

Local school leaders here spoke against the competition, saying there were too many strings attached to it. And ultimately, the feds rejected California's application.

In creating the list, state officials chose a set percentage of elementary, middle and high schools and didn't include more than 10 percent of any district's schools.

McLean said some schools that might be considered successful made the list, such as ones that fared poorly when compared to "like" schools. Being listed won't affect the schools much, she said, aside from it appearing "awkward."

"A school that has a good track record, they really shouldn't be too concerned," McLean said. "They really shouldn't see an exodus in the school."

Once the list is made final in the first weeks of August, schools will be notified by the state of their next steps. Districts will then have to inform families of their rights by Sept. 15.

McLean said the final list will show "no dramatic difference." Schools can't appeal their listing, she said. The list will be updated annually.

For just the 2010-11 school year, outside districts won't be required to accept transfer students from schools on the list: participation is voluntary. But districts must accommodate students wishing to transfer within the district and use lotteries if schools have more requests than seats.

SCHOOLS CHOSEN HERE

The sole Kern High School District school on the list is Arvin High, which also holds the lowest academic performance index score (calculated using several standardized test scores) among Kern's regular education schools listed.

Arvin tested 1,700 students, 1,200 of whom were English learners, state data show. And it ranks among the least-achieving high schools in the state.

Emerson Middle in the Bakersfield City School District (which has four schools on the list) has the second worst index score of any Kern school on the list. That school is in year five of Program Improvement, meaning it has failed to reach goals in state testing each year.

"Those four schools (on the list), like all of our schools, are working very hard every day to improve the skills of our students," said Steve Gabbitas, BCSD spokesman. "They all work super hard."

The inclusion of other schools on the list have local school officials scratching their heads.

Chris Crawford, superintendent at Greenfield Union School District, said he doesn't understand why Granite Point Elementary -- a new school -- was included.

"I think they may have made a mistake," Crawford said. "There's no way I can see that school on the list."

And John Mendiburu, superintendent at Rosedale Union School District, said Del Rio Elementary was probably placed on the list because of the state's ranking compared to other "similar schools" in the state. It ranked low, but the school is just seven points away from reaching an index of 800, a goal for all state schools.

The award-winning and newly "distinguished" Golden Hills Elementary is listed, puzzling local leaders. Tehachapi Unified officials could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this year, the state released a different list of the bottom 5 percent of the state's "persistently lowest achieving schools." Those schools are required to make dramatic reforms -- which could include shutting down the school -- as required by state and federal law.

Four of 12 Kern schools that made that list also made this recent one -- Maricopa Elementary, Beardsley Intermediate, Semitropic Elementary and Palm Avenue Elementary schools.

STIGMA

School officials here said they don't expect parents to leave schools picked for the list in large numbers.

In fact, some schools already give parents the option to leave under Program Improvement, but few actually do.

At BCSD, only 184 students (compared to roughly 27,000 students in the district) transferred out of Program Improvement schools this past year. Panama-Buena Vista Union and Greenfield Union school district officials also noted "very few" transfers.

"People want to be in their neighborhood school," said Lori Aragon, an assistant superintendent at Greenfield. "They develop a relationship with staff."

Instead, what affects schools the most about being on the list is the stigma.

"It's not a list you want to be on," Aragon said. "Our staff works incredibly hard, and they don't deserve this."

Gerrie Kincaid, an assistant superintendent in Panama, said parents are generally happy with their schools even when they go into Program Improvement. Panama schools on the list average 738 on the index.

"They like the staff, they like the program. They don't want their kids going far away," she said. "This is just unfriendly publicity that doesn't reflect those schools. Those are good schools."

Rahkiah Brown, the recent parent club president at Granite Point, said the school should not be on the list. She won't transfer her fifth-grader out, but said she thinks some parents might, simply because the school is on the list.

"I think the teachers are doing a fabulous job, and I'm very satisfied," she said. "I'm seeing wonderful things. But if I saw the list from the outside, my first reaction would be, 'Why is this one of the lowest performing schools?'"