BCT Editorial – 2/28/08

This page was last updated on February 28, 2008.

Long odds; Editorial; Beaver County Times; February 28, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“In a desperate attempt to improve academics, lower dropout rates and reduce unwanted pregnancies, a poor, rural school district in Georgia is going to segregate its children by sex from kindergarten through 12th grade.

“However, schools are a direct reflection of the families and communities of the children they are educating. Unless significant changes occur in those areas, this move has little chance of succeeding.”

[RWC] The Times apparently ignores study findings from at least the last few decades showing that – everything else being equal – single-sex classes improve learning for both sexes. Will it work for this school district? Who knows, but why is the Times so eager to assume the change won’t work? Could it be because it’s an approach that doesn’t appear to increase the transfer of tax dollars from “rich” school districts to “poor” school districts? Remember, Times editorials constantly lobby for even more “rob Peter to pay Paul” school district funding than we already have.