There’s undoubtedly a problem in six county schools. The California Board of Education has rated Pajaro Valley High School, E.A. Hall Middle School, and Landmark, Hall District, Live Oak and Gault elementary schools as “low-performing schools” that could cause students serious harm. This means that each of these schools scored poorly on standardized tests administered by the state.
The question is: what can be done about it? By law, the schools are required to inform parents of the findings and to declare themselves “open-enrollment schools.” Parents concerned about the condition of these schools can the register their children in other schools. This does not mean that their children will be accepted. Throughout the county schools are suffering from severe budget cuts, and adding new students from failing schools would only add to the burden already faced by more successful schools. But if students can’t be transferred, all the measure really does is tell parents something that they already know: their children’s school is failing their children.
“Our funding has been cut by unprecedented amounts,” says Brett McFadden, Chief Business Officer of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. “I find it very ironic that they’re cutting us and then turn around and put out this list. In some respects, it feels like we’re being set up to fail.” Without the resources to improve the schools and without real alternatives for parents, that is exactly what seems to be happening. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
