Persistent low math scores point to need for RCSD change
Zero percent.
That’s what you get when you round 3 out of 1,693 students to the nearest whole-number percentage.
And that is how many eighth-grade students in the Rochester City School District received a passing score of “4” on the 2022-23 New York State math exam. The number seems unimaginable, and yet pitiful results have been the norm across most grade levels in both math and English Language Arts for more than 20 years.
Despite this unbelievable fact, local educational leaders at all levels have looked the other way, leaving hundreds of thousands of Rochester City School students and their families trapped in a system that is built to feed itself. The status quo remains unbreakable, and those who control it remain unrivaled.
Local community fingers have been pointed at those at the state and national level while neglecting the human and economic catastrophe in their own back yard. Everyone knows this to be true and yet no one is really calling for the dismantling of the Rochester City School District.
I am not suggesting the system be replaced. What I am arguing is that outcomes will never improve using the same failing, top-down, trivial methods used since Superintendent Peter McWalters left. It is truly insane that nothing dramatic has changed within the district since the 20th century.
It will take more than school reconfiguration and a few million dollars here and there to improve results. A dozen more social workers and better-quality snacks won’t move the needle either.
Improving the Rochester City School District will require a shift in decisionmaking power. The quality of ideas and influence for change can’t be determined by the number of certifications someone has. It is not status that ultimately determines success. It is ownership.
No one is more invested in the schools than the students, families and teachers who are in them every day. Change must begin and end with them.
As one of them, I will guarantee you we can do better than zero percent.
John Bliss is a Rochester City School District teacher.