This is it for Aurora Central High School and, well, pretty much all Aurora Public Schools.
In fact, an extreme makeover plan for Central and a handful of schools that feed into it foreshadows the fate of a host of struggling institutions all over the state.
Late last week, APS officials released preliminary details of a plan to turn around Central, Aurora West College Preparatory Academy, Boston K-8 and Paris and Crawford elementary schools. While there are some specifics, essentially these proposals create a framework that last-ditch efforts will be built on to raise test scores and graduation rates.
These schools post some of the lowest student test scores and graduation rates in the state. They’re so low at Central that the school is in the final stages of either turning things around or being taken over by the state. While the wisdom and practicality of such a move are clearly absent, a school “takeover” is another matter.
This is all about Central. It’s a school with some of the poorest students in Colorado. They move in and out of the area several times a year. Not only do huge numbers of students not speak English fluently or at all, they speak dozens of different languages. Central, and the schools that feed into it, are beset by challenges few other schools must contend with for so many students — practically all of them. This isn’t an excuse for poor performance, it’s an explanation.
So this new plan, demanding “innovation,” allows these schools to step from under the burdensome union, district and state regulations that have, in essence, dictated what every school in Colorado must be like, even when the students are so very different.
Some of what’s being proposed so far sounds promising: longer school days, non-union instructors to boost English language skills, profound flexibility in the school and especially the classroom, and workarounds that allow for more responsive funding.
No doubt, critics will look at the plan and say it’s not enough.
They’re right. It’s not. What’s missing from the plan so far, and from every school in the state that struggles under similar burdens, is more money.
What makes a state “takeover” of Central High School so ludicrous is that, without additional resources, a new regime, a charter school or anyone would else would only play an academic shell game, changing one priority for another in the classroom, all to the same ends.
Money won’t solve all the problems of this or other “failing” schools, but it will allow for the school to hire intensive English literacy instructors in addition to teachers and social service staff needed to keep students in school and on track with peers across the state.
It is ridiculous to think that the majority of these students, already coming to Central lagging far behind their peers, can catch up and keep up for the same price that it costs to educate a wealthy child born in Colorado in a stable home that struggles with finding quality family time instead of struggling to find food, winter coats, babysitters and, in many cases, a place to live for the entire school year.
The plan drawn up so far is encouraging. But it seems unrealistic that APS can set a baseline of essential skills and add intriguing arts, international and other esoteric goals to the mix, and meet them without substantial additional resources.
It means that students from these schools should focus only on English, English, English, and some math, science and social studies, because that’s all that the time and money available will realistically buy.
Pretty unfair. It’s anathema to the concept of Colorado school equalization, meaning that students across the state are guaranteed equal education opportunities, even though those opportunities cost substantially more in rural areas.
State lawmakers need to recognize the disparity and make good on the spirit of equalization. Schools like these targeted facilities must have increased resources, in addition to flexibility, to really move the needle on student performance.
To the students and parents from other schools in the state, to students and families who attend these Aurora schools, to the teachers, to taxpayers, this just isn’t fair. But in so many cases, life isn’t fair. It’s just the way it is, and ignoring the need for more money for these schools doesn’t change that reality.