Poverty in schools needs addressed

In Part 7, we saw Common Core being used with second graders in New York. For K-12, the standards, readings, and suggested curriculum remain about the same - developmentally inappropriate for learners, especially in elementary school. How did it come to this?

According to the 2010 US Census and the National Center for Education Statistics, 13,604 school districts oversee the 100,000+ public schools serving about 50 million students.

An Idaho state education official confirmed my understanding that about 100 high-poverty school districts formed the basis for the nation's governors and chief school officers' efforts to "set up a process to establish specific grade-level standards from kindergarten on" (Douglas Hesse, member NCTE Review Team of Common Core Standards). All this so those school districts meet "standards" and pass international tests.

What is known about high-poverty schools? First, "high-poverty" means 75 percent or more of the students are in the free or reduced lunch program. In Moses Lake, about 62 percent of students qualify for the free/reduced lunch program (OSPI website). Second, many are located in inner cities across this country. Third, according to Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus University of California, students in poverty suffer from malnutrition and poor health care and lack of books, all impacting their school achievement.

We are told that we need new standards and tests because American students do poorly on international tests. However, the major reason for poor international test results is the level of child poverty in the United States, now 23 percent, the second highest among 35 economically advanced countries (Stephen Krashen). When we control for poverty, American students' test scores are near the top of the world, according to Stephen Krashen, Gerald Bracey, and others.

Schools aren't failing.

We don't need new standards to raise US international test results.

We need to address poverty.

Duane Pitts is a retired English teacher now living in Moses Lake. He taught English for 42 years - eight years in Valdosta, Ga; two years in Colfax; and 32 years in Odessa. As a retiree, he serving as a facilitator by helping teachers and principals learn about the new state teacher-principal evaluation project.