BCT Editorial – 2/22/06

This page was last updated on February 22, 2006.

Lemon aid; Editorial; Beaver County Times; February 22, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Let’s turn declining student enrollment to our advantage

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

“That’s what Beaver County should do when it comes to declining enrollment in its public schools.

“Student enrollment has been going downhill since the 1970s, when the passing of the baby boom generations through the county’s 15 school districts and the collapse of the steel industry hit within a decade of each other.

“In more recent years, the turmoil at US Airways has taken its toll on student bodies.

“Because of these factors, enrollment today is about half of what it was in the early ‘70s.”

[RWC] The state’s unfriendly business environment apparently had no effect.

“No district has been exempt from the decline. Four districts - Midland, Monaca, Rochester Area and Western Beaver - average less than 100 students per grade level (K-12), while two more - South Side Area and Aliquippa - barely break 100 students per grade level.

“Clearly, Beaver County has too many school districts and too few students.

“The question then becomes, how do we turn this negative into a positive?

“This is where the lemonade-making comes in. As anyone who has made lemonade knows, lemons alone aren’t enough. If life gives you lemons, all you can make is lemon juice. Sugar, water and ice are needed to make lemonade.

“To turn this bitter enrollment lemon into tasty lemonade, innovation and initiative are needed.

“One route to take would be the voluntary merger of school districts, as Monaca and Center Area are considering. For instance, Rochester Area and Freedom Area could be combined without creating a mammoth district. The same could be done with the Beaver Area, Midland and Western Beaver districts.

“But while that might reduce the number of school districts in the county, it wouldn’t dazzle the taste buds of people who are moving into the region.

“To that end, why not do something creative by establishing a countywide school system with a variation on public school choice?”

[RWC] I assume you noticed the editorial omitted true school choice, i.e., vouchers that could be used for both private and public schools. I’m sure the author believes consolidating all Beaver County school districts into one mega-school district is thinking outside the box. We need to remember that the Times solution to all government problems is to make government bigger. Another example is taxation. The Times idea of “tax modernization” is to eliminate local taxes in favor of state taxes.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s no doubt it makes sense for some school district consolidation. As the editorial correctly points out, some districts are too small and this tends to drive up cost and drive down quality.

“Within this system, elementary school boundaries could stay pretty much where they are, thereby allowing young children to attend elementary schools near their homes.

“Middle schools could be located in the municipalities in an outer ring around the county (Western Beaver, Blackhawk, Riverside, Ambridge Area, Hopewell and South Side).

“The inner ring could consist of magnet high schools in Beaver, New Brighton, Rochester, Freedom, Monaca and Center, with each offering its own specialty - math and science, traditional academy, the arts, languages, etc. A full-time vocational-technical school, or possibly two, would complete the mix.”

[RWC] Yeah, that will “dazzle the taste buds of people who are moving into the region.” Who is moving into the region? If the author had taken a couple of minutes to do his research, he would have found Beaver County’s population decreased 1.5% (2,811) from April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2004. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe schools are the reason the Beaver County population is static or shrinking. Statewide, the population increased only 1.0%.

“Other suggestions are welcome.”

[RWC] Except those that include vouchers.

“Instead of lamenting the decline in student enrollment, let’s see it as an opportunity to innovate. One thing we know for sure: Doing nothing has gotten us nowhere over the last three decades.”

[RWC] I have to call attention to the fact that the editorial actually provided a recommendation. As I’ve repeatedly noted, Times editorials tend to bash without presenting alternatives.

Unfortunately, the suggestion misses the mark. While we should take action to make our schools systems more efficient, we need to address the underlying problem that Pennsylvania and Beaver County are not attractive places for business. People follow jobs, and business brings jobs. Until we understand this, Beaver County and Pennsylvania will remain stagnant.