Test scores positive proof of public education success

Public education is big business in Springfield. For the 1999-2000 school year, we expect to spend $147 million and employ more than 3,100 people. This makes us the fourth-largest employer in a community where manageable growth is the economic engine of the future. With roughly 24,000 students, we are the third largest school district in Missouri.

To put things in perspective, I thought it might be enlightening to think of the Springfield Public Schools as if it were a private-sector manufacturer. We are committed to effective zero-based budgeting, long-term planning and effective communication with you, our customer.

Our market research shows that one in five households in Springfield has a student in our schools. While one in three children lives at or below the poverty level, our state test scores are substantially better than state and national averages.

As a manufacturer, our primary raw material would be your children and grandchildren. Our finished product would be a high school graduate appropriately trained to pursue post-secondary training or employment in a business world of high expectations and countless opportunities. Our students should also be prepared for the obligations of citizenship, able to think and to compete at any level.

You expect, and rightly so, that we produce well-rounded, well-disciplined and well-educated graduates regardless of their background or the station of life from which they start.

We generally do this for around $5,500 dollars per student per year not a great cost when compared to normal training costs, especially when you factor in social services and other requirements beyond education that have been placed upon us by society.

This means meeting the expectations of a rapidly changing marketplace. Some say we should return to the basics. But the basics were never like this. Even as students must learn to function in a world where the basics are changing by leaps of unbounded knowledge, $2 today buys a wristwatch with more memory inside than the first computers.

As I write, our Board of Education has recently approved a one-time expenditure of funds to purchase computer technology and to provide training for every classroom teacher to use it effectively. This plan also applies to other professionals in the district.

At last, our teachers will be equipped and trained to teach essential skills to prepare students to step into your world, where truck drivers and tourists alike can communicate by satellite, and fast-food restaurants are computerized to track sales and inventory.

The computer today is much more than the pencil and paper of past generations. It is also the master key to unlock a higher level of thinking and learning; it is necessary to access the latest essential knowledge that students need.

To be sure, computers must be used carefully. Technology is a tool, not a toy. Just as every student needs to learn the precise language of literature, science and math, each one also must master basic computer skills to be prepared for the future. Employers know that better than many of us. But for the rest of us, even the simplest tasks require some degree of computer literacy.

As any employer knows, assets are vitally important. More important than ever are our people. We are committed to replacing a third of our 1,600 faculty and a fourth of our administrators as baby boomers approach retirement. We must be competitive if we are to hire and retain the best our universities have to offer. Our children require it; employers demand it.

We must also invest in facilities, maintaining what we have as we plan for continuing growth in the northwest and southwest corners of our community. While 70 percent of our buildings pre-date 1960, our bond debt is only 2.75 percent of the overall budget. Missouri allows up to 15 percent six times our current level.

To that end, we anticipate a successful bond issue in the near future, pending a final decision by the Board of Education. At the same time, three of our seven board members' terms end this April. We must elect community members who share the broader view of excellence and accountability for students and staff.

To keep our students and staff safe, we are implementing a safe schools checklist. The result to date: a measurable decline in vandalism and school-based threats of violence.

In 2000, our district faces a crucial measure of our performance. The Missouri School Improvement Program has tough standards. As an urban district, we face the challenge of demonstrating our statewide reputation for excellence.

Finally, we expect continued excellence in the classroom. This past year, our ACT scores reached the second-highest level in the history of the test, and Kickapoo High School achieved the national Blue Ribbon Award.

The Class of 1999 earned nearly $7 million in scholarships. That's a 4 percent return on our budget, and if students are our raw material, that's a major achievement that we think any business should be proud to claim.

(Dr. Jack Ernst is superintendent of the Springfield Public Schools.)