JOR 221 Project 8
Can Money buy Education?
Rhode Island’s ‘below average’ graduation rates and the questions behind them: South Kingstown's success
By Kevin Murray
With the exception of 9 schools out of Rhode Island’s 48 high schools, all the other schools had a graduation rate under 90 percent of the total senior class.
South Kingstown High School is one of the schools that had a senior class in 2012 with a graduation rate below 90 percent.
Schools like Central High School and Mount Pleasant High School in Providence were at the bottom with 56 percent, while South Kingstown was closer towards the middle with a rate of 80 percent.
In 2011, South Kingstown’s graduation rate was 84 percent a significant increase from its 2012 graduation rate.
Although South Kingstown has managed to decrease its dropout rate as well, from 10 percent in 2011 to 6 percent in 2012. With these rates South Kingstown High has a dropout rate lower than 22 of the 31 public school districts, according to the Narragansett Patch.
The state of Rhode Island has an average dropout rate of 13 percent according to the Rhode Island Kids Count, which puts South Kingstown High well below the average, but South Kingstown still only sits a mere 3 percent about the average graduation rate in Rhode Island according to the Providence Journal.
“I have been at South Kingstown for 12 years now and I’ve seen a lot,” said Barbra Crudale a South Kingstown guidance counselor, “we have made strides in providing the kids with ample resources and there has been positive feedback.”
South Kingstown is staffed by 93 fulltime and part-time classroom teachers, 4 guidance counselors, 1.5 school psychologist, 1 librarian, 1 speech-language therapist, 1 social worker and 1 school resource officer, with a total count of 1065 students.
According to the New England Association of Secondary Schools, South Kingstown’s class of 2013 had almost half of their students with averages under a 3.00 grade point average, more commonly known as a B-, with an exact percentage of 40.56 percent of the students.
The NEA of Secondary Schools also shows South Kingstown’s graduation rate as of 2013 was 84 percent, but the reason for this increase is still unknown and is it just a trend?
“The teachers are working harder and staying later to provide for these kids,” said Crudale, “what we might have lacked in resources over the years we fixed with dedication and some funding.”
South Kingstown’s recent graduation rate has been the highest in years, said Crudale, and with their senior’s SAT scores generously above the Rhode Island average as well as the National average.
“I don’t know who to blame,” Crudale said, “The community, the local government, the teacher, the parents, the kids, we all have a hand in the success of our children. We should consistently get better each year.”
South Kingstown is just one of many schools that have had sub-par graduation rates in the past few years, schools like Cumberland High School and Cranston High School East all both have graduation rates below 85 percent.
According to City-Data the average household income for the Town of South Kingstown was $74,936 dollars as of 2013.
The town’s yearly annual fiscal report states that 68.6 percent of the town’s total tax revenue is allocated to just the schools during their fiscal year of 2013-2014.
That is $ 51,351,115 dollars that was devoted to resources and staffing for all of their schools and grades from K-12 in 2013-2014.
Although as of 2013 the average salary of a South Kingstown High teacher was $64,230 dollars, their graduation rates and average grades continue to rise.
Cities Like Woonsocket with an average household income of $39,964 dollars have more money allocated to their education ($79,069,690) but it is split over more schools, staff and resources.
Woonsocket High School had one of the lowest graduation rates in 2012 with 66 percent of their senior class graduating.
“I have only worked at South Kingstown so I can’t speak for other districts but, people become teachers for a reason,” said Crudale, “money shouldn’t influence how you do your job, it should always be for the kids, and we do that here at S.K.”
The only variable which is not constant and can actually be measured are the resource available to these kids.
“When I left for college it was a little eye-opening,” said John Chapman, a recent alumni who graduated from Woonsocket High in 2012, “a lot of the kids had personal computers which was absurd to me.”
Chapman graduated in 2012 and was one of the few kids who finished with better than a B.
“We had a decent amount of computers and books and stuff,” said Brendan O’Donnell an alumni of S.K High since 2012, “I used whatever I needed to too make sure my work was as good as it could be.”
South Kingstown’s rising averages and rates could be a testament to great teaching and dedication, or is it an increase in school allocated taxes?