Students deserve a new approach after years of dismal graduation rates
An outside consulting group will be heading to Columbus’ South High to do what school and union officials have failed to do for years: improve student academics and the district’s dismal graduation rate.
Currently, less than half of the students who attend South High graduate, and district officials plan to pay up to $600,000 to an outside company to turn things around.
We expect it will be money well spent.
Despite repeated efforts to improve South’s horrible academic track record, student performance has dragged along, undoubtedly leaving thousands of local youth unprepared for an increasingly competitive job market.
Fresh blood in the administration office could be exactly what’s needed to provide a new perspective on the school’s problems, develop creative ways to solve them, and give educators the specialized training and support to follow through.
The move is being funded by a $1.35 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, which gives the district substantial cash to implement changes recommended by the management group.
But what remains to be seen is whether the local teachers union will play ball, and agree to make the sacrifices necessary to help students improve, which often involves longer school days and additional teacher training. If they don’t, the whole effort could be wasted.
The Columbus Education Association has reportedly been critical of the district’s prior overhaul efforts. Hopefully, the union doesn’t share the same illogical views of AFT President Randi Weingarten, who recently discussed the takeover method with area superintendents in Columbus, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
“At the end of the day, we need innovation, but we need a track record of success,” Weingarten said, according to the newspaper.
Weingarten’s statement seems like an oxymoron, or perhaps they’re just moronic. In schools like South High, district and union leaders have a track record of failure, and that is simply unacceptable.
With innovation comes a degree of risk, and professional education consultants have studied and tested the best approaches to fixing schools. Let’s give them a chance.
School and union officials had their chance to improve academics at South High. They failed. Now it’s time to try something new, and it will likely include measures that will be undesirable to the union. Oh well.
Parents and community leaders should support the outside management team to ensure that student needs are finally put ahead of union interests. Because unlike the teachers union, the outside group has no vested interest in the district aside from improving instruction and helping students succeed, and that’s how it should be.
