Many feel frustrated and embarrassed about a report Tuesday showing minority students scored well below white students on statewide proficiency tests.

        “The racial gaps are astronomical and totally unacceptable,” said Sue Taylor, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers.

        Black students scored 28.3 percentage points below white students, and Hispanic students scored 19.9 percentage points lower than whites in fourth-, sixth-, ninth- and 12th-grade tests.

        Experts aren't saying that black and Hispanic children can't learn as well as white children. Poverty, a disadvantaged home life and low expectations in the classroom are key reasons, they say.

        The expectations theme intrigues me.

        Teachers aren't the only ones with low expectations of minority achievement. Our state and local leaders must not expect much, either, given the lack of support they show to inner-city schools.
       

Extra-credit observations
        Look at the physical state of many schools in Cincinnati. Compare and contrast with the our sports and entertainment venues.

        Ohio is just beginning to make up for years of neglect. Cincinnati, for instance, hopes to build 34 new schools, renovate 32, and close more than 20.

        I doubt that'll be done by the time the Great American Ball Park is built.

        And what about the physical needs of our kids? What message does it send when our city decides not to fund school nurses for every school: We don't care if all our children are vaccinated, if their illnesses get immediate attention?

        Ohio's General Assembly shares some of the blame for the racial gap, too. For years, lawmakers perpetuated inequities in school district funding, hobbling large, urban — and mostly minority — school districts with anemic budgets.

        Cincinnati faces the highest of hurdles to educational achievement: high poverty, high crime, high single-parent families. Its mostly minority students need extra resources, but we give them less.

        Under the state's school funding formula, Cincinnati is considered a “property wealthy” district. That's bad because the state bases the amount of funds it sends city schools on real estate values in the district, not on household incomes.

        Cincinnati gets penalized for its few patches of prosperity.

        Because a smaller percentage of its budget comes from the state, the city's taxpayers bear a bigger burden for school funding.

        And the taxes from such neighborhoods as Mt. Lookout and Hyde Park don't begin to make up for the school district's many low-income neighborhoods, which produce the bulk of Cincinnati Public Schools' student body.

        Twice the Ohio Supreme Court said Ohio's funding formula is unconstitutional.

        It called for increases in per-pupil spending and for “parity” — the concept that poor districts should have the basic amenities rich ones have.

        The legislature tried to set a per-pupil spending minimum, but it still left a $5,000-per-student gap between rich and poor districts.

        Among big city school districts, Cincinnati suffers.

        The Ohio School Facilities Commission has said it will reimburse Cincinnati only 23 percent of its capital expenditures on school buildings. Cleveland gets reimbursed 68 percent, Toledo 77 percent.

        Correct that lop-sided arithmetic. Then we might close the academic achievement gap.

       Denise Smith Amos can be reached at 768-8395 or e-mail
       damos@enquirer.com
       

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