In Search of a City: Another Look at Columbus Public Schools
The Columbus Public School District has great programs. As the father of three city school kids, my experience has been consistently positive. When I hear disparaging remarks about the City Schools, often by suburban parents, I wish I could respond with some convincing evidence to counter negative perceptions.
The Columbus Dispatch ran an article on August 26 that should challenge anyone’s preconceptions about Columbus Public Schools. According to the Dispatch, Columbus Public has 33 schools that rated effective, excellent or excellent with distinction, more than any other district in central Ohio. By comparison, Westerville has 22, Worthington 18, Hilliard 21, Olentangy 18, New Albany 4, Bexley 5, Dublin 19, Granville 4, and Upper Arlington 9. Here’s the report card.
There are, to be sure, many struggling City schools. Most Columbus schools are in continuous improvement, academic watch, and academic emergency, ratings that measure levels of poverty at individual schools, not the quality of their teachers. In most suburban districts, every school is rated effective, excellent or excellent with distinction. But parents who want to raise their children in an urban neighborhood can choose from among plenty of excellent public schools.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Would a better statistic than the number of schools rated effective, excellent, or excellent with distinction be the percentage of schools so rated? 33 out of the total number of schools in the City district seems like it would be lower than 22 out of the total number in Westerville, for example. Still, this is an excellent note that perhaps city schools aren’t so bad, but rather it’s the neighborhoods around them that are not supporting the schools.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Thanks Cleve- just this morning I spoke to a downtown business owner who lamented the state of our schools. I will be forwarding your comments to him!
September 9th, 2008 at 9:48 am
As a parent myself of two childern that attend a Columbus Public School, I love the schools my children attend (one middle and one elementary). And even times when I have started to lose my faith in the district itself , I start to think that most of the obvious issues the schools are facing are the lack of parental involvement. I notice this especially when I visit my daughters school which is consisently being recognized as on of the top schools in the district. As a parent I urge other parents to be actively involved and help share the responsibility and not to just look at the report cards that come out yearly in the newspaper.
September 30th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Christina, which schools do your kids attend? Thanks.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:40 am
My daughter attends Colerain Elementary and my son attends Sherwood Middle.