Grand Rapids Considers Closing Three Elementary Schools

Our urban schools have struggled for years.

First, their percentage of students who are free/reduced lunch is higher than suburban districts. The problems and complications associated with having a high percentage of students from poor or near poor households does not make education easier. Such families and students may require additional assistance in the form of counseling, social work services, attendance (truancy), bilingual and/or other services. These additional services are outside of the traditional classroom instructional services and, thus, are labeled support services by "bean counters" like myself.

Second, in the past decade and half, urban schools have lost enrollment to schools of choice and public school academies as parents who have seen these options come open to them have opted to leave the struggling urban school for what they perceive as the relative safety or improved educational opportunities of suburban districts or public school academies. Not even going back to the inception of schools of choice in Michigan in the early/mid 1990's, but just in the last decade this has caused a major loss of students for urban districts. Grand Rapids Public Schools had a fall 1999-2000 enrollment of 25,978 fte students. In 2008-2009, their fall enrollment was 19,354 fte students, a loss of 25 percent of total enrollment (and potential revenues) in one decade. (Source of data: CEPI)

Given this, urban school districts face near impossible tasks to balance their budgets, keep parents happy and in district, providing safe and nurturing environments which are conducive to learning for students, etc.

Saturday's Grand Rapids Press has an article concerning their district's discussions about closing three elementary schools as a result of recent state budget cuts or threatened cuts to education funding. (That article may be reached by clicking on the title to this blog post.)

What's that old Police song? Oh yeah:

"You say you want to spend the winter in Firenza
You're so afraid to catch a dose of influenza
You live your life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line

Canary in a coalmine...":

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0v4TY-I-og