Friday, December 9, 2011

Not all Oklahoma school districts 'at their level best'

Mr. Ira Harris, who is paid nearly six figures to oversee a school district of 263 students, recently acknowledged that he "cannot and will not argue that all school districts in Oklahoma are at their level best ..."

He's right, of course. Indeed, he need look no further than his own district, Boise City, where the math achievement of the average student is at the 39th percentile relative to an international comparison group.

Here's another way to look at it:  If one picked up the Boise City school district and dropped it into Canada, the average Boise City student would be at the 31st percentile in math achievement. If Boise City were relocated to Singapore, the average Boise City student would be at the 23rd percentile in math achievement. If it were relocated to Finland, the average Boise City student would be at the 22nd percentile in math achievement.

This is unacceptable. Indeed, one is tempted to say there's a crisis in education in Boise City.

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