A coat of paint on a crumbling schoolhouse
If your house has a crumbling foundation, would you give it a new coat of paint or address the structural issues plaguing your home? Most people choose to shore up the foundation and apply cosmetic changes only after the home is secure.
Not so with Gov. Josh Shapiro, who wants Pennsylvania taxpayers to foot the bill for a shiny new coat of paint on Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, or PASSHE, while he ignores the crumbling foundation of our K—12 public schools.
According to Education Week, high school students believe they’re equipped for college, but they’re not. American College Testing scores reveal only one in five students graduates from high school ready to succeed in college. In 2019, a staggering 65% of first-year college students enrolled in remedial math (up from 14% in 2015).
Average test scores for Pennsylvania’s 11th graders show that only 34% are proficient in algebra, 65% in literature, and 50% in biology. Public schools across the commonwealth graduate students unprepared for college.
The state Department of Education classified 382 Pennsylvania public schools as low achieving. In these schools, an average of 11% of students are proficient in math, and only one in four students is proficient in English language arts.
If our K—12 system continues graduating students unprepared for college, how can we expect that restructuring higher education will improve outcomes?
When first-year students arrive on campus academically ill-equipped, colleges must fill the gap by providing developmental (i.e., remedial) education: coursework designed to help kids succeed at college. Sounds good in theory, right?
Yet, in practice, it’s a troubling pattern that places an undue financial burden on students whom public schools failed to educate. In addition to accepting students who aren’t academically ready, Pennsylvania colleges and universities require these students to take courses — starting at $321.50 per credit or $964.50 per class — bridging the gap between what they didn’t learn in high school but need to know for college.
While the intention is to help, taking remedial courses forces students into paying for the shortcomings of their
K—12 education and often lengthens their time in college. Unsurprisingly, in Pennsylvania, only 43.3% of students entering college in 2018 graduate within four years. Thus, students must spend thousands of dollars and go into debt to offset what they didn’t learn during their years spent in Pennsylvania’s public schools.
The governor’s plan to reduce PASSHE college tuition to $1,000 per semester for qualifying students (with a household median annual income below $73,170) does not address who will pay the difference between the actual cost of attending college and the $1,000 tuition cap. Will the plan require universities to cut costs to meet the tuition cap? Will colleges raise tuition for non-qualifying students to cover the gap? Or will taxpayers foot the bill?
Shapiro is literally passing the buck without holding K—12 public schools responsible for graduating students unprepared for college.
Making college more affordable does not address the fact that there is a gap between belief and reality in the K—12 education system and its insufficient ability to prepare students for the future. From grade inflation and pandemic-related learning loss to schools obscuring the truth about academic progress, the education system has employed many deceiving tactics to avoid scrutiny.
The time to invest in children’s education is during their K—12 education. Throwing money at higher education without addressing the root problems in K—12 is merely turning a bachelor’s degree into the new high school diploma.
Pennsylvania children deserve better. Kids forced to attend failing schools because of their ZIP code pay twice: once, by not receiving a quality education and, again, by paying tuition for what they should have learned in high school.
Improving educational outcomes for K—12 students through school choice will improve higher education outcomes. Investing in school choice is a long-term investment that will pay off: More students will be academically prepared for college, leading to higher college graduation rates, improved job stability, industry growth, and economic prosperity for Pennsylvania.