The Kansas Policy Institute (KPI) does not award participation trophies. So parents at those four Topeka public schools that had notably improved their year-over-year performance can feel confident they deserved the recognition that came their way.
KPI President Dave Trabert honored these four Topeka Public Schools during Thursday night’s meeting of the Topeka School Board.
In selecting the schools to be recognized, Trabert used the A-F Grading scale that KPI has recently introduced for all public schools in Kansas. All of the data included in this comprehensive and easily understood system comes directly from the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) and is searchable for each, individual school in Kansas.
“By looking at the schools that are doing better, we can all learn about what’s working in some schools and try to replicate that across the state,” Trabert told KSNT of Topeka.
The schools honored included Lowman Hill Elementary School, Quincy Elementary School, Topeka West High School and the former Shaner Elementary School, which is now a part of Jardine Elementary School.
In the weeks that follow, the Sentinel will be sharing some of the data that KPI has collected. Not all schools have fared as well as the four honored in Topeka. In fact, the results are downright dispiriting in many cases, even in school districts where one expects better performance.
KPI invites parents and other interested parties to review the data for their particular schools and particular districts. KPI invites legislators and Supreme Court justices to do the same.
Given the demands the state Supreme Court has already placed on taxpayers, and with more tax demands looming in the very near future, all parties would be better served if they knew what they were getting for their money.
Only one school in the entire state has received an A grade on the new scale. The Sentinel will be talking about that school in the near future.