Let’s face it. The U.S. is competing with China, and we’re not doing as well as we used to. The Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development released its 2009 Program for International Student Assessment on Tuesday and the news is grim for America. While 15-year-olds in Shanghai China ranked top in the world, beating even that stalwart educational powerhouse Singapore, kids in the U.S. didn’t fare too well. They ranked 25th in math and 17th in science among 34 countries. “This should be a massive wake-up call to the entire country,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
Then again, one might think that the U.S. is a big country while Shanghai and Singapore are just cities—big cities, mind you, but cities nonetheless. And then, one might also think that the high scores of California took a hit because of the inevitably lower scores in Mississippi and West Virginia. Perhaps, but a new study shows that even here in Santa Cruz County, trouble is brewing. The local dropout rate is increasing. For the graduating class of 2008-2009, it was 18.4 percent, up from 14 percent just a year earlier. In three high schools that are part of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, the dropout rate climbed 6 percentage points in just one year.
Michael Watkins, Superintendent of the County Office of Education, is very disappointed by the findings, which were released by the California Department of Education. “It’s really unfortunate, and I think a lot more has to be done to keep all students in school,” he says. Like State Superintendent of School Jack O’Connell, he blames the problem on cuts in funding, not only for educational programs, but also for the arts and counseling. These latter, he says, are what keep many students in school.
Principals of the schools, particularly in PVUSD, reject the findings, and argue that the graduation rates are significantly higher. They blame the discrepancy on the new CALPADS (California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System) system, used to analyze data. On the other hand, the Merc reports that using other metrics the figures for California and, by extension, for Santa Cruz County, could actually be considerably higher. For instance, while California has a 78.5 percent graduation rate using the CALPADS system, using other metrics, the figure can be as low as 70 percent.
Regardless, there is a problem statewide, and in Santa Cruz County in particular. While some critics claim that the rising dropout rate results from overemphasis on academic achievement, the question is, “Isn’t that what schools are supposed to be all about?”
It’s a problem that isn’t going away soon, especially with the recent budget cuts to education announced by Gov. Schwarzenegger. While China is soaring ahead, the U.S.—including California—is falling far behind.
Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Mercury News and Newsroom America.
