Our kids, teachers more than yet scores

I have become privy to our superintendent and board chair discussing the poor educational outcomes of students in our district. They report there is only a 60% reading competency rate and math is below the state average (which is 50%). The Chair does have a point, that these scores are dismal. What the Chair also failed to mention was that in the end-of-year board meeting, the Superintendent Report stated that much of our district outranked the average ISAT scores in Idaho.

Additionally, our Board Chair is also not taking into consideration the demographics of our area. Many of the families and children in this area live in poverty. censusreporter.org for WBCSD, the average income per capita is $29,673, leaving 10% of kids below the poverty line. This may not seem like many children, but let’s factor in the large population with two working parents, drug and alcohol dependency issues, and the large population of children with special services. When kids are wondering if or when they are going to eat their next meal, test scores are not going to matter. When a brain is focused on SURVIVING, it does not learn.

We need to talk about the things not being spoken. This is not just an educational issue in our district. We cannot blame test scores on teachers — some of this stuff comes from home. It comes from inherent struggles either in living environments or physiological difficulties some of these kids are simply born with. Our kids and teachers are more than test scores.

NIKELLE COLLINS

Priest River