Raise awareness to raise grades

Sacred Heart University’s Institute for Public Policy recently conducted its latest survey on education in Connecticut. One question was how much money the state spent annually, on average, per public school student. The poll also judged support for increasing charter school funding, the importance of schools as a factor for living in Connecticut, and perceived quality of local public education.

Residents were split on adequacy of school funding, with 43.9 percent saying Connecticut spent sufficiently, compared to 41.1 percent who thought their schools lacked sufficient funds. When asked to guess how much the state spends per student annually, almost half said they didn’t know, and of those who guessed, 41 percent guessed low. Eleven percent guessed high.

Connecticut averages $16,742 per student annually, the highest in the country. While surprising that most residents guessed wrong or didn’t know, many — 28.5 percent — gave their local school systems a “C or D” grade for overall quality of education, with 11.2 percent giving their schools a “D or F.”

If more than a third of state residents think our schools are offering kids a mediocre or “poor quality” education, what is being done about it?

Many think charter schools is the answer. Over two-thirds of respondents applaud the formation of charter schools in Connecticut, and two-fifths support increasing funding and lifting enrollment caps. Again, this result is puzzling and incongruent with the facts: Charter schools have failed their mandate of ensuring a more equitable quality of education for Connecticut’s poor and disadvantaged students. Additionally, the achievement gap in our state — the learning disparity in disciplines such as math and reading between children in well-off communities versus children in poorer, under-advantaged communities — is among the highest in the nation.

Overall, we are failing our most atrisk students, and charter schools are not proving a panacea. In fact, in 2016, the NAACP pushed for a moratorium on additional funding pending research into inequitable outcomes across the state. They complained that charter schools are not delivering on the promises of improved learning for all Connecticut students; in fact, many charter school students aren’t even getting the same quality education found in many public schools.

In January, despite the preponderance of educational failures, Connecticut’s Supreme Court overturned a Superior Court judge’s controversial ruling that would have upended the state’s educational-funding methodology and mandated an aggressive overhaul of teacher evaluations, educational standards and special-education services. The court found that, while there are huge discrepancies between school systems and educational results, it isn’t a Constitutional violation, or the judicial system’s responsibility to fix these issues.

Writing for the majority, Justice Chase T. Rogers declared, “It is not the function of the courts to eliminate all of the societal deficiencies that continue to frustrate the state’s educational efforts.”

So, who is responsible? It isn’t just about spending; it’s the quality of teaching and the need for early and sustain- able interventions for at-risk children and families. We need to attract and retain top-quality teachers, and include early outreach, ensuring funding for programs with the greatest potential for a positive, long-term impact on our children.

At SHU, we train students and then send them into Connecticut schools to gain hands-on experience. And because poverty influences educational growth and success, we sponsor a nationally renowned program called Horizons, bringing children from at-risk backgrounds, K-12, to our campus to learn during the school year and summer. Interactive learning and mentoring helps them see the world beyond the confines of their local schools and neighborhoods, better preparing them for life and for college or post-secondary education.

We are evolving educational training through evidence-based practices. Challenges facing Connecticut’s educational system need long-term adjustments, determination, an understanding of the realities challenging education and strong teacher-preparation that must be consistent, focused and collaborative.

It’s also worth noting that 56 percent said the quality of public schools is a factor in deciding where to live, and residents with children — 73.1 percent — said it was a “strong factor.” We should assume that if savvy taxpayers don’t like what they see, they are going to vote with their feet, taking their kids and jobs with them.