In Texas, the state’s accountability gurus and minders, when pressed, will admit that the state’s accountability system is MORE accurate for schools serving the lower ends of the economic scale than at schools serving the higher ends of the economic scale.

Let that sink in for a minute.

What that means is that schools serving poor students are measured based on what they actually add.  And schools serving rich students can coast on the fact that their students are rich kids.

Strangely, no one is outraged by this. Or let me restate. No one is voting based on their outrage.

Regardless, I have a question for you.  Is there value in a flawed, school performance accountability system, like the one currently in use in Texas?

Surprisingly, the answer is, “Yes.”

So what if the affluent schools get a free accountability pass? There are huge societal and individual benefits in raising the floor of student performance. For society, increasing the floor of student performance lays the foundation for better educated employees, an improved economy, increased wages and decreased crime.  For the individual student, it leads to greater opportunity, flexibility, security and happiness.

Raising the floor of student performance is the spring board to changing one’s economic status.

In you are born to affluence, your safety net is wide, multi-tiered and proactive.  If you are born to poverty, your safety net is the quality of your education.

Yes, our unfair accountability system is harder on schools that serve the children of poverty. But in all honesty, it needs to be, because that’s where the stakes are the highest.

If only our politicians had done this by design…

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

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