A New School Year Begins: Are We Failing To Serve Our Neediest Students?

The end of August not only marks the beginning of Indian summer, but also the conclusion of summer vacation for thousands of school children across the Peninsula.  This time of year also marks the release of the most recent state test scores—numeric barometers of school quality that is used by parents and politicians alike to judge the quality of both individual schools and school districts.     

In the annual battles over how to best educate our children, an ugly perception that people struggle with is that there appears to be a strong correlation between a family’s income and student achievement.  Yes, good teaching certainly matters, but so does cultural capital—what children learn at home prior to the start of their formal education—and continue to learn at home each day as they grow and mature.   

The research and advocacy group, Education Trust West, conducted research on the recently released state test scores that identified significant achievement gaps between wealthy and economically disadvantaged students within Silicon Valley’s wealthy school districts.  According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, “Affluent Los Altos is home to some of the best public schools in the state, but the district serving most of the town has larger gaps in math scores between fourth graders of different income levels than any other in the Bay Area.”  Only 45% of economically disadvantaged students scored proficient in both Language Arts and Math compared with 95% of more wealthy students.  The state average is 44% and 74% respectively.  

Los Altos is not an outlier.  Palo Alto Unified also had a 45% gap in achievement between wealthy students and those who are economically disadvantaged.  Burlingame has only 40% of its economically disadvantaged students scoring proficient in both English and Math compared with 80% of its wealthier students.  Compare this data to Calistoga Unified whose student body is made up of primarily economically disadvantaged students from families who work in the farm or hospitality industry.  With fewer numbers of economically advantaged students, they have 100% of wealthy students proficient in Math and English with only 54% of economically disadvantaged students scoring proficient. 

When you look at achievement gaps between the rich and the poor students in some of our wealthier communities, is it worth the cost of trying to move your family into a wealthy community when the overall achievement rate in these school districts for economically disadvantaged students is low?

“Economically disadvantaged” students are those who qualify for free and reduced lunch.   There is a strong correlation between the quality of a child’s daily nutritional intake and their overall school achievement. In San Carlos, the San Carlos School District and San Carlos Charter Learning Center both offer organic meal options for school lunch at a cost of $5.00 per student.  This is a much higher cost for students compared to Redwood City’s lunch offerings, which only cost about $2.00.  San Carlos parent volunteer groups help to raise money each year that ensures all students, including those who qualify for free or reduced lunch, have access to the higher quality organic lunch option. 

The questions I have for all school leaders (including myself) in the Bay Area is this:  Are school districts in wealthy communities like San Carlos, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and charter schools like San Carlos Charter Learning Center and Bullis School in Los Altos really offering high quality educational experiences for its students?  Or, are we merely “going through the motions” in our classrooms.  Do our wealthy students learn regardless of the quality of the education experience we offer?  Finally, do the wealthier charter schools and school districts really underperform for our most needy students?  

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