Viewpoint: I expect P-H-M schools to excel far beyond the 'basics'
In 2010, voters elected me to serve on the Penn-Harris-Madison school board. Since then, I have poured my heart into this nonpartisan position and I’ve been honored to serve as president of the board for seven of my nearly 12 years. I am seeking reelection because I am proud of our district and I want our progress to continue.
During election seasons, misinformation unfortunately abounds. Sometimes it originates from misunderstandings and other times from political expedience. But it must always be corrected – especially when our children’s future is involved. As reflected in a recent Viewpoint article, the campaign rhetoric in the P-H-M school board race might give voters the mistaken impression that P-H-M’s performance is declining and that we’re failing to reach our potential. By all objective measurements, such rhetoric is patently false.
In support of their arguments, P-H-M’s critics typically compare scores from two completely different standardized tests: the old ISTEP and the new ILEARN. Notably, the state replaced the ISTEP with the ILEARN in 2019 and designed the ILEARN to be more rigorous than the ISTEP. Dr. Jennifer McCormick, the former Superintendent of Public Instruction, cautioned the public not to measure a district’s performance by comparing its ISTEP and ILEARN scores. Defying this advice, PHM’s critics compare our 2013 ISTEP results to our 2022 ILEARN results and conclude that our results are declining. This falsehood diminishes the hard work of our students and teachers and misleads the public.
Here's the truth. With spring 2022 ILEARN results, P-H-M ranks as the top school district in northern Indiana and No. 11 of the state's 299 public school districts. Our results against the state average continue to widen. We have the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked elementary schools and the No. 2 ranked middle school in the state. U.S. News and World Report rates 13 of P-H-M’s 15 schools in the category of “Best Schools” in the nation.
Curiously, our critics often say “let’s get back to basics” without defining “the basics,” nor explaining why we should settle for them. To be clear, my expectation for P-H-M is to excel far beyond the basics. We must continue to be forward thinking. We must continue to prepare students for a rapidly changing economy, increasingly technical and competitive job market and complex future. Our kids, teachers and community deserve to have the tools to be prepared. Excellence isn’t basic, it’s innovative.
Standardized tests are only one measurement of a school district. Among many other examples, here are three critical areas where we can never go backwards:
· Teachers: A critical factor in student achievement is the quality of our teachers. P-H-M continues to hire exceptional teachers who win prestigious state and national awards annually. This year, we hired 87 new teachers, 70% of whom left other school districts to teach at P-H-M. Given the national teacher shortage and the urgency of attracting and retaining the best teachers, we recently passed a 7% increase in teachers’ salary.
· School safety: Our children’s welfare and safety is our top priority as a school district. In 2012, we adopted a long-term safety plan that is elaborate and effective. We have stuck with the plan and made improvements when necessary. As a result, P-H-M is ranked the sixth safest school district in the nation by Security Magazine. We will always invest heavily in new technologies, policies, and building upgrades. As a recent example, thanks to the leadership of fellow board member James Turnwald, we approved renovations of Meadows Edge Elementary School to enhance its safety and learning environment. We can never settle for the basics when student safety is involved.
· Taxes and property values: High quality school districts increase home values. Over the past decade property values in PHM have increased by more than$1.1 billion. P-H-M has the lowest tax rate in St. Joseph County and our property tax rate has decreased nearly a dollar per $100 of assessed value during my tenure. In that same time, our graduation rate has increased by nearly 20%. That’s significant forward progress.
We must continue to move P-H-M forward – not backwards. To keep that momentum going, please vote for James Turnwald, Dana Sullivan and me for the P-H-M school board.
Chris Riley is president of the Penn-Harris-Madison school board. He is running for the district's open Harris Township seat.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: P-H-M schools are striving, excelling, not declining
