Opinion FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009
Rendell justified in cutting Gov. School? p. 8
Redefine "quality education" District's campaign to improve image fosters competitive culture The Spoke is published seven times a year at Bartash Printing. It consistently receives the Gold Award from the Pennsylvania School Press Association and is a Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist. The Spoke serves as a public forum for student expression. Editor-in-Chief: Henry Rome Managing Editors: Meredith Mayer, Anika Mehta News Editors: Shriya Patel, Seth Zweifler Features Editors: Julie Chen, Sanjana Bijlani Op/Ed Editors: Priyanka Kaura, Matthew Schaff Sports Editors: Greg Lopez, Mike McCarter Business Manager: Jill Holloway Centerspread Editor: Emily McIntyre Art/Photography Editor: Elizabeth Hedges Design Director: Bennett Colesberry Cartoonists: Gabriela Epstein, Pete Zonino, Molly Denisevicz Staff: Phil Ayers, Liz Bennett, Liz Bravacos, Tim Croner, Reshma Gouravajhala, Chris Grant, Jon Jankowski, Jenny Kicak, Becky Leimkuhler, K.C. McConnell, Meghan Morris, Erin O'Neil, Tara Park, Anjuli Patel, Rio Perzan, Kurt Rohrbeck, Mary Turocy, Brendan Viola, Lauren Winigrad, Rachel Weber, Laura Weiss, Ashley Weston, Robert Xu Faculty Advisers: Susan Houseman, Cynthia Hyatt
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Tredyffrin/Easttown School District prides itself in its academic rigor and, consequently, deems its schools of high quality. The district pushes students to work hard, learn more and—most importantly—take AP courses. Here at Conestoga, a strange social perception rages, a voice that tells newcomers that “the smart people” load their schedules with APs and their transcripts with 4s and 5s. We all know this is how it works, but what more commonly mystifies us is why.
Tredyffrin/Easttown is so obsessively enveloped in its own image not because it is vain, but because it’s good business. The higher the numbers, the higher our comparative rankings, and with high rankings arrive more newcomers with bulging pockets and bigger houses. And—don’t be fooled—T/E’s business operation is one that has benefited students. It’s the business that allows us to brag about our test scores, and it’s the business that allows colleges to accept over 95
Gabriela Epstein/The SPOKE
According to Superintendent Dan Waters, district officials have become "inquisitive" about the high number of students enrolled in AP Language classes who decide against taking the May exam. At first glance, their interest in promoting more Conestogans to take AP tests merely reflects the district’s goal of elevating students’ speaking and comprehension skills to benefit both students’ lives now and later society. Right? Well, these concerns may explain some of the administrative anxiety, but there is much more at stake when it comes to AP exams, for this district in particular. To excel in the current system, both economically and educationally, a school district must largely fend for itself. Although public schools receive state and federal subsidies, such aid is not nearly enough to meet the high costs of providing communities’ youth with quality education. With subsidies distributed, local tax revenue makes the difference between a good and an excellent school, so a district that can take this to its advantage—and thereby raise income—will beat the curve. T/E is such a district. It succeeds by drawing into the area the affluent, whose presence lifts land values and local tax revenues. And how has T/E built such a pull on wealthy parents? It’s called the “School Profile,” and it shouts at the world our list of achievements, replete with superior scores and stats from the SAT to the AP exam.
percent of us. But when we mix money with education, we have to be careful. From the start, the district’s pursuit to compete with surrounding schools was destined to promote a similarly competitive atmosphere in its own schools, and to a large extent this has already happened. What we must remind ourselves is that ’Stoga’s brand of competition—planted by the district and perpetuated by the students—may not serve the best interests of students. Considering how it plays out at Conestoga, such competition can be harmful. With the momentous pressure to succeed, the classroom dynamic can and does get ugly. It’s not just about the stress. On a daily basis, we see classmates resort to plagiarism to meet the demands of impossible course loads, friends’ bodies suffer from undeserved sleep deprivation and the college-minded feign their interest in community service to sparkle up their resumés. In any other context these activities would be unacceptable, but, evidently, not so much in our culture of competition, where numerical success inches above personal dignity. If this culture indeed pervades our school, can our experience really be said to offer the unmatched “quality” that district officials so often report? What is a “good” school? For a district whose primary incentive is revenue, that remains to be seen.
Economic Darwinism: interpreting the crisis p. 9 From the Editor
A Web approach We're heading online Cue doomsday music. In a world where national and local newspapers are consolidating, firing staffs, cutting pages, shutting down… …Your local high school newspaper is dynamic and expanding. It’s a new age for newspapers, and while we reaffirm our commitment to providing you the most accurate and most informative Conestoga news once a month in print, we are making the transition online. Stoganews.com, in its second year, has recently been redesigned by our Web team. With the redesign, which took place a few weeks ago, we rolled out a variety of different projects. All to keep you more informed and allow you to interact with your news. Go on Stoganews.com for the latest breaking news, updated daily. Check out the site for blogs, polls and photo galleries. You can comment on stories or share them with your friends with new Facebook compatibility. You can get RSS feeds from the site, or just check the site out with new Blackberry and iPhone capabilities. While you’re looking at the newest information from Conestoga, use the links to check your school e-mail, grades and more. This is just the beginning for Stoganews.com. In the coming months we plan to roll out several new projects, including an interactive event calendar, SMS breaking news alerts and PDF versions of The Spoke. Also, in the coming weeks, we will form a new Stoganews.com Production Club, where students with an interest in Web design can contribute to the site. But we want to know what you think. What would you like to see on Stoganews.com? What new features would you like to see, what aspects of Conestoga would you like represented? Shoot us off an e-mail and let us know. Because it’s your site. And while The Spoke may be expanding, know that you can still count on us for the most current Conestoga news and information—in print or online. Without the doomsday music.
It's a new age for newspapers nationwide. Join us as we make the transition online.
Henry Rome can be reached at hrome@stoganews.com.