Kindergarten testing links poverty to achievement in education

It was not shocking information. Rather, its impact was based more upon the implications of something many in the educational field have known for a long time. General educational performance is linked to economic means.

In Monday’s edition of the Marietta Times, an article by the Associated Press looked at the results of the test administered to kindergarten-age children in Ohio this year. While there were exceptions to the trend (especially among charter schools), the general trend was still solidly established.

When this trend is established, the implications are greater than the information itself. Our current system of funding (though declared unconstitutional) continues to provide funding based upon property taxes. Thus, affluent areas have greater revenue due to higher property values, while impoverished areas have less revenue. The implications of the testing, however, suggest that impoverished areas have the greater need. How does money help? Better equipment, better teacher/student ratios, and the ability to hire tutors, aides, etc. to help students who need more individual attention.

At the Bishops’ statewide hearings on public education, the need was put into concrete terms: to make the funding of Ohio’s schools fair and equitable for every student. (see Education 101) There is general agreement about the need for a fair and equitable funding for education, but there is little agreement about where this funding should come from.

I think the solution requires more than just economic know-how. It requires each of us to envision what the educational system would look like if it were fair and equitable. The picture needs to be established, because it is so far removed from our normal frame of reference. Only by finding that vision can we begin to work backwards to finding a means of getting there. The discussion, both within the church and within the capital, is ongoing. If you would like to offer your view, drop a comment to the post. I would like to hear others views on the subject as well.