Pinellas gets low marks for grad rates

Pinellas County has one of the worst graduation rates among the 50 biggest school districts in the country, according to a national study released this morning. Its rate for the 2004-05 school year was 55.5 percent, putting it at 15th from the bottom, concluded the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, which is affiliated with Education Week magazine.

Detroit topped the worst list, with a 37.5 percent graduation rate, followed by Milwaukee, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Clark County, Nev. Hillsborough County came in at No. 32 with a rate of 67.1 percent.

Florida had a 60.8 percent rate that year (the most recent year for which national data was available), putting it at No. 44 among states behind Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. The national average was 70.6 percent.

The research center uses its own formula to calculate grad rates for its annual Diplomas Count report, and its numbers are at odds with the state Department of Education. According to DOE, Florida had a 71.9 percent rate in 2004-05 and Pinellas had a 70.1 percent rate.

For the first time this year, the research center broke down grad rates by congressional district. In Florida, the district represented by U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, had the second-worst rate, at 51.0 percent. Only the district of U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, was worse, at 50.8 percent.

To see the entire Diploma Counts report, click here. To go straight to the Florida section, click here. By coincidence, today's St. Petersburg Times listed graduation rates for each of Pinellas€' 16 high schools. To see them, click here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter; Times photo/Dirk Shadd

Comments

[John]

Why does the media continue to ask for rigor from schools and then complain because they do? Yes, the graduation rate is dismal but, the students who are not performing have had ample opportunity to demonstrate proficiency. Perhaps when they get an employer they will be able to show things like work ethic, mathematical skills, literacy and maybe even proper dress patterns.

The reason is a huge lack of QUALITY educators. Key word is QUALITY.

[kitty]

10:04 AM, I'm not a teacher and I don't know anyone in the profession, but as a parent I do know that QUALITY education begins at home.

[Pinellas Teacher]

No, the reason is not a lack of QUALITY educators. Students are the ones who are not performing and the students are simply a product of their environment. If the parents did their jobs at home, it would make our jobs easier in the schools. Encourage education, keep up with your children's lives and pay attention to their school work.

[DMJ]

If you want high rates then GIVE them a diploma. There not be a need to obsess over high rates. If students do not meet the standards then they do not graduate. It is called responsibility. As for the person blaming it on a lack of quality teachers- they have no idea what goes on and I mean NO idea. Then we always find some on here who want to enable and give John and Mary a diploma for just showing up. Poor parenting leads to disasters that the schools are blamed for when they cannot fix the disaster caused at home. When schools DO fix and SAVE students (which happens daily) you never hear about it.

[Al]

It's not the educators, it's the parents. Most don't give a crap about thier kids' education.
I don't feel that 60% grad rates are all that bad, as stated in Caddyshack "The world needs ditch diggers too!".

[None of the Above]

Blaming it on the teachers makes no sense at all. Considering how thankless the job is reported, almost daily, to be, common sense would seem to dictate that teachers must love their work and truly want to be educators in order to continue at it, day in and day out, with all of the challenges they face.

They certainly can’t be in it for the money…

In an age where everyone claims to have ADD or whatever, a swift kick in the pants is most likely in order as parents do share some of the responsibility for the education of their children.

What is ironic however, is that a few members of the current School Board, also shouldering some of the responsibility for this dismal performance, now believe that the “level of excellence” they have achieved (with their august shepherding of the school system), namely a 55.5% graduation rate, somehow qualifies or affords them the opportunity to “manage” the County as BOCC Candidates.

In an election cycle where “Change” is the underlying theme, that the status quo is unacceptable, that utter and complete dissatisfaction with anyone in office today appears to be feeding a generational shift in voters attitudes, why would any candidate for any political office believe that this record of performance would qualify them to serve the county in any capacity, save for “former” office holder.

Remember these statistics when you go to the polls in August and November.

[RA]

Absolutely no shock at the report. My child took two "honors" classes at Gibbs. In one the teacher lost assignments throughout the class, and slept in class, while in the other the teacher completely lost control of the class to include female students changing clothes in class (and flashing other students) and allowing in class arguments and abuse. While the quality of the classes was horrible, it was still better than the performance of the school's administrators who never weighed in to improve either situation. It makes it difficult to explain to a student that school matters when they no attention is paid to involved parents and the school appears to only be backing up sub-standard teachers. And we're surprised by a high drop out rate?

The fault rests with the parents and with the students themselves. Contempt for learning is a hallmark of the lower-earning culture, no matter what the race of the family.
So many young men from this culture believe that the ability to read and write properly is a sign of effeminacy and weakness. A jail sentence is celebrated as a rite of passage into manhood. Drug dealers and thieves are viewed as neighborhood heroes.

[smallcap2000]

There is a car company that makes 100 cars, but only 50 percent of them work.

Would you consider the people who run the car company competent?

Pinellas teachers continually want pay increases, without increases in productivity.

Let poor parents have vouchers so their children can attend private school.

[smallcap2000]

There is a car company that makes 100 cars, but only 50 percent of them work.

Would you consider the people who run the car company competent?

Pinellas teachers continually want pay increases, without increases in productivity.

Let poor parents have vouchers so their children can attend private school.

[John]

Vouchers? That's your answer. How friggin' asinine. The teacher can't teach kids who DON'T SHOW UP TO SCHOOL. There are shortages in critical areas like ESE so the kids who really need the help are really NOT getting it and on top if it most of their parents could give 2 craps.

Oh and we don't "always wan't increased raises," but we certainly don't want extra work and get a pay cut of 2 percent. Isn't that common sense?

[John]

so 50% of the cars you produce don't work. But the catch is they don't work because you put them together badly they don't work because you got shoddy parts from the part maker.

Kind of like parents sending their kids to school unprepared and then not even having a clue with what their child is doing in school

It doesn't matter what kind of teacher you are. It is the parents fault when kids show up to kindergarten and don't know their alphabet or how to write their names. It is the parents fault when kids don't do their homework. It is the parents fault when their child doesn't behave in school. It is the parents fault when they never reply to teacher requests for contacts. It is the parents fault when a kid misses 1/3 of the school year. It is the parents fault when kids don't have pencils, pens, paper or other supplies but have a cell phone, ipod, and psp.

[Marty S.]

"If everyone could be a Marine, we wouldn't be the Marines." Same holds true for high school graduation rates. Graduating high school takes time, EFFORT, commitment, resolve, etc. Not everyone has those traits when they are aged 14-19. We ought to adopt the Goldstien theory. Let those that want to drop out - drop out! The money that would have been wasted on them goes into a GED account to be used when they are ready to return. Thus the schools would only have kids in them that WANT to be in them!

[ROGER J MUNSON]

THESE ARE THE SAME TEACHERS THAT ARE DEMANDING HIGHER SALARIES, OR "STEP RAISES". THE HORRIBLE GRADUATION RATES, AND DEPLORABLE FCAT RESULTS, DON'T SPEAK HIGHLY TO THE QUALITY OF THE EDUCATORS, THIS STATE, AS A WHOLE, HAS TO OFFER.

[Steve]

The kids rule the schools today. We use to respect our teachers, and have a bit of fear of them. When I was in high school you could work at a job , but with a work permit. When and if you dropped out of school you lost that job. I remember when I was a freshmen in school, I was picked on by one kid and his gang. Everyday they would push me and knock my books over in this class, they were juniors. One day I hit the kid , he went flying over a desk, and had a cut lip. The teacher in the class said it's about time mr.-- then procedded to grab the kid throw him against the blackboard, and told him he got what he deserved. This kids' father was the sheriff, never a word, or law suit. The teachers had respect of the students. Today for the most part teachers have become babbysitters, and administrators with all the edcuation have messed up an easy solution to things. Would anybody ever think we would need resourse officers in schools (police)

[REASONABLE]

Going by the logic of this article, it's the St. Pete Times fault. If you look at the (biased) statistics, students in the Tampa Tribune and Bradenton Herald have better graduation rates. There are lies, damn lies, statistics and the left wing world according to the St. Pete times.

[Objective?]

Teachers - it's not all the students' or parents' fault.

Community members - it's not all the teachers' or school system's fault.

Can we be honest and say that there are good students and bad students? Some come from supportive families that value education and instill the importance of this in their children from a young age. Some come from the complete opposite situation.

Can we further our honesty by saying that there are good teachers and bad teachers? Good parts of the school system and bad parts? I have many close friends that are teachers, and my wife works in a local school system. This group covers most of the counties in our area. There are many tireless educators that give there all to their students every day. There are also some for which teaching is "just a job", or who don't put forth the effort we would all hope for in a teacher of our children.

Few problems are entirely the responsibility of 1 person or 1 group. Instead of finger pointing, wouldn't our time be better spent organizing solutions to this issue? Forcing our boards, elected officials, and leadership to step up and solve this problem? Providing input and ideas and ensuring our voices are heard?

[me]

Until parents do their job by sending children who have rested enough, had breakfast, clean clothes, etc, there will always be those who do not graduate with their class. So many parents don't give a crap and they let the children know that. You see the parents at school when they want to complain or take their kids out of school to go skiing, shopping, etc. Some parents don't even go to concerts their children are in or sporting events when their children participate.

There will always be those who don't make it.

[fedupwithanenablingsociety]

What happend to survival of the fittest?

Are we turning into a socialized state where everyone is deserving of something by virtue of being born?

Our capitalistic system is contingent upon motivation. Those without motivation starve and drop out.

Why shouldn't there be drop outs...at least in this way the diploma means something...or

do we go back to the pre accountability days when a warm body is all you needed to have in order to graduate.

[Fed Up Reading Teacher]

Even I think this 55% is dismal.... especially since Pinellas County supposedly has a superior education system compared to the rest of the area which (in the past) has justified their teacher salaries being higher than Hillsborough County. But, I digress. Using the car analysis, you are building 100 cars. Several of the cars, you discover, have transmissions that were not put together properly because the manufactures were under the influence of illegal drugs during their manufacture. What do you do? You send them back. You also discover that several timing belts are made of such inferior quality that when you attempt to put them on, they crumble because they are missing key "ingredients" during their manufacture. Next, you discover that you cannot begin to put the outside of the car together because the overall engine is too loud and this "disrupts" you from the other assembly process. What do you do again? You send those defective parts back.

As teachers, we do not have the luxury of sending "defective" students back (Extremely bad analogy I know). Students come to us from all walks of life. Some have permanent hearing damage because their parents are too poor to take them to the doctor for ear infections. Some come to school abused. Some come to school exposed to drugs, not only in utero, but also at home. Others have wonderful parents and wonderful homes. Some are smart children who are very spoiled and demand attention be made to them at all times.

Granted, there are teachers who should not be teaching. Period. However, is it their fault they are allowed to remain in the classroom? It is the overall system that needs to be examined because it is that system that is forced to employ lackluster people because market forces have shown they CANNOT compete with similar jobs of similar education requirements. This is why you see such a shortage in critical areas--special education, math, science. Be honest with yourselves. If you have a chemistry degree, do YOU want to teach in a school where it is guaranteed you will be verbally abused (and a with a strong possibility of physical abuse) on a daily basis, have uncooperative parents and students, unsupportive superiors, no supplies unless YOU buy them? Unless, you are one of the lucky few who work in a "good" school where the overall parents do care and the students are held accountable, schools are a very difficult place to work. You have to truly want to work and make it work.

Now what is the point of my post? There are many forces behind school dropout rates. Some students are bad, some teachers are bad, and some parents are bad....and frankly some school systems are bad. Until society realizes that it is simply not the sole responsibility of teachers to graduate students, but the responsibility of parents and children as well, we will never be able to institute meaningful changes. We can argue all day over mandates, "bad" unions, teacher incompetence, but the problem is far more deep than those things and we must acknowledge them.

[Minnie]

There isn't one reason why we are at this low level of performance.The back and forth finger pointing is why we stay at this low level.Everyone has a play in this losing game.Until we join together and work cooperatively we will always have low performance, no understanding and finger pointing.Education is not the place for party affiliations and personal political agenda's,however many attribute to it and are a part of it.All children have a right to a free and appropiate public education and it is the responsibility of PCS employees to give it to them.Too many individuals have personal agenda's and our students are hurting.Our children are losing.Qualified teachers are leaving and we are getting stuck with the ones that have nowhere else to go because they are not commodities to the system.Many changes must happen.Voters have the best opportunity to change the way things have been handled with 4 seats on the School Board open.Know the candidates and go out and vote...in the primary and again if necessary.That is your voice and your chance for improvement.Now,you don't even have to 'go out'- get an absentee/mailed ballot.Don't complain if you can't educate yourself and vote.
www.minnieforschoolboard.com

[John]

Is it too old fashioned to expect "personal resposibility?" Although it is probably more fun to point out the speck in someone elses eye and ignore the 2x4 sticking out of yours.

[John]

Make that responsibilty. Some one took the "n" off my computer when I was not looking.

[John]

Wait my spell checker doesn't work. I think you get the point.