Resilience and improvement in Kansas public schools inspire, despite underfunded years
Sometimes when I wake up in the morning and read the headlines, I want to crawl back in bed because there is so much bad stuff happening, I wonder if we, as a society, are going to make it. But that feeling usually doesn’t last because my job allows me to visit Kansas public schools and meet with teachers, students, parents and lots of school board members.
There are few things that will lift your spirits more than going to a school and watching our young Kansans learning, and being excited about learning.
Kansas public schools are part of the foundation of our state and our local communities. We, as Kansans, take public education seriously. A good share of our time, energy and tax dollars goes to preparing the next generation of Kansans for adult life.
The good news is we are doing a pretty good job at it. There is always room for improvement, and there is always the need for constant vigilance, but here is why I say public schools are doing a good job. We have just gone through years of underfunding our schools, lengthy court cases and political battles to finally get adequate and equitable funding, and we have recently experienced the worst disruption to education in a century — the COVID pandemic.
And here is how we have emerged from these significant obstacles: Our high school graduation rate is the highest it has ever been, including subgroups. Now, our critics say, “Well, you’re graduating them, but they aren’t prepared for working or college.” But that’s just not true because the percentage of students who are going on to get postsecondary degrees or industry and work credentials is also at an all-time high.
I cannot stress enough how important that is because all studies indicate that on average the more rungs you climb up the education ladder, the more money you will earn during a lifetime.
Another key statistic is that the percentage of students who need remedial instruction, usually math, after high school is falling like a rock. We are graduating more students than ever before, and they are graduating more than ever before with the skills needed either to enter the workforce, or enroll in college, or seek further instruction for a career. And this is all happening after years of underfunding and the COVID pandemic.
Here is another encouraging data point: Our state assessment results from tests taken last spring posted the largest increase since the current tests began in 2015. In both reading and math, the percentage of students increased in the top three performance levels and decreased in the lowest level. This occurred even though Kansas public schools saw a 5% increase in the number of low-income students, who, on average, have lower test scores than higher-income students.
There are numerous other signs of improvement in Kansas public schools, such as the State Board of Education approved $15 million to train teachers on new ways to help struggling readers, the number of students who are taking college courses and technical training while in high school is at a record level, and more children are enrolled in pre-Kindergarten.
Earlier, I wrote that we must be vigilant to protect our public schools. There are powerful special interests out there spreading false information about our schools. No surprise they are funded by billionaires who see dollars signs when they look at our young Kansans. They want to force you to pay taxes so wealthy kids can attend discriminatory private schools and defund public education. This is what voucher schemes are and they are a danger to our society.
In Kansas, our teachers, administrators, local school board members, parents, students and taxpayers should be applauded for the gains we have made together. So, when I get depressed about what is happening in the world, I look at Kansas public schools. We have emerged from underfunding and then the pandemic even better.
Our public schools are living our state’s motto “Ad Astra Per Aspera,” to the stars through difficulties.
Scott Rothschild is communications editor with the Kansas Association of School Boards.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas public schools rebounding from underfunding and COVID pandemic
