Better Schools = Better Students (Cont.)

It’s easy to agree that we all want the best possible learning environment for our children. Reasonable people may not always agree on what the means are to achieve that end: per pupil spending, autonomy of local school boards and communities, class size, merit pay, qualifications of the teacher, authority of the principal… the list is long.

We think, though, that one of the “inputs” into the equation that should get absolute agreement is that our children deserve to go to school in a decent facility. Research shows (see yesterday’s post) that kids in a school that is in satisfactory condition are in a better situation.

Kentucky’s public policy makers must accept the basic premise given that the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) collects - and makes publicly available – information related to the condition of each and every public school in the Commonwealth.

In fact, KDE has established a classification system to inform policy makers, the parents of students and the general public of the general condition of the public school facilities. According to KDE, the classification (also referred to as “Categories”) is based upon the following building descriptions:

1 - Excellent (new, generally less than 10 years)

2 - Better (generally 10-20 years old)

3 - Good/Average (20-30 years old)

4 - Fair/Poor (30-40 years old, needs renovation)

5 - Poor (older than 40 years old)

Let’s dig a bit deeper into these descriptions.

Category 4 – Fair/Poor – Functional Age 30/40 Years. Deteriorated; needs improvement or possible replacement.

Category 5 – Poor – Functional Age older than 40 Years. Deteriorated to the point of replacement; needs immediate. Required systems are non-existent and need to be provided.

Back to the question we posed yesterday: Isn’t every Kentucky student in a decent facility? ("Decent" here being defined as Category 1, 2 or 3)

You may be surprised to find out that the answer to that question is: NO.

You may be a bit outraged - as we are - to know that a 2008 analysis by the KDE revealed that more than 90,000 of Kentucky’s children attended Category 4 and 5” schools.

That’s 90,000 children that are in facilities that are labeled as “deteriorated”. Not “deteriorating” – as in on their way to becoming “deteriorated.” They are already there – with too many of Kentucky’s children attending school inside of them each and every school day.

It’s long past the time to do something about this. It will be an expensive problem to fix but it can be done. And, it doesn’t have to be as expensive in the future as it has been for these past many years. Reasonable public policy can help us to best ensure that every Kentucky child will one day be in a decent school facility.

Which we should all be for – right?