THE FINAL WORD

CPS' Steady Deadline

APATHY RAGES AND NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE.

BY FRED PARRY

The results from last month’s municipal election included few surprises. Beyond the continuing trend toward a more progressive Columbia City Council and school board, the biggest surprise among the results may have been the overwhelming support for the $80 million bond issue put forth by Columbia Public Schools (CPS). More than 76% of those voting on this issue voted in favor of the proposal. Such broad support would normally indicate district patrons are very much satisfied with how the school district is being run. However, in this case, one could argue to the contrary that most of us are apathetic and clueless about what’s really happening in our public schools. Proof in point may be the recent assessment scores shared with Board of Education members showing a steady decline in district performance.

The numbers speak for themselves. Using the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) chosen by CPS in their comparison to 13 other Missouri school districts, also chosen by CPS, the quality of education our children are receiving has been on a steady decline for much of the last six years. The most recent MAP test scores for mathematics show CPS students ranked ninth out of the 13 comparison districts. Among Black students, CPS ranks eighth out of 13. Among students receiving free or reduced lunches, CPS ranks 10th of 13. In communication arts, Black students enrolled in CPS classes rank 13th out of 13 … that’s right, dead last. The big surprise to most of us is that CPS students have fallen below the state’s averages for basic proficiency levels in almost every single category. The lone exception in 2019 was algebra 1.

While some will choose to argue that MAP scores are an unfair way to measure the district’s effectiveness, they are, nonetheless, the chosen metric CPS uses to measure its success. Even if MAP scores were completely irrelevant, CPS also uses a platform called iReady to measure proficiency in math and reading. Like the MAP assessments, the iReady scores show a consistently downward trend dating back to 2016.

I’m most bothered by CPS’s lack of transparency in these matters. The aforementioned test scores were shared with CPS board members during a 7:30 a.m. work session that was not recorded or live-streamed as normal board meetings are. If not for a handful of engaged parents attending this meeting, this news may have never seen the light of day. Back when CPS ranked high among its peer school districts, there would be a plethora of press releases, public speeches and frequent references to our excellence. When the scores began to fall in a precipitous way, we didn’t hear a peep from CPS officials.

Current CPS Superintendant Brian Yearwood has been on the job for less than a year. I had a chance to interview him for my CEO Roundtable radio show and we had a candid conversation about the challenges CPS is facing. It’s clear to me that Yearwood is a man of great competence and integrity. It’s also clear to me that he might not be around long. His attempts to fix our district will be met with intense resistance from progressive school board members. He will also be stymied by the stranglehold that teacher unions currently have on our district. Ten of the last 10 school board candidates endorsed by the CMNEA have won their seats and union members won’t tolerate any move that makes our teachers more accountable for student outcomes. This will likely prove to be an impossible situation for Yearwood.

Those of us who have had children educated in the CPS system know that the district has an abundance of outstanding teachers who care deeply about their students. Unfortunately, these teachers are overshadowed and run over by a vocal minority of bullies hellbent on advancing union-sanctioned directives. The issues they advance are a distraction from doing what needs to be done in the classroom.

If you have children in CPS, you owe it to yourself to watch Jason DePrima’s YouTube video about CPS’s Tableau Scorecard. Search for “Columbia (MO) Public Schools (CPS) Academic Performance 2015-2021.” This short video will give you the context and an understanding of the ways our school system is failing us.

The only path forward is for district parents and community leaders to become actively engaged in the governance of our public schools. There’s too much at stake for us to simply assume that someone else is paying attention. Failing to stand up now means that our local schools will keep heading in the wrong direction. As Albert Einstein once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” It’s time we tried something different.

Fred Parry Founder & Publisher Emeritus fred@insidecolumbia.net

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