AG 1997 02 17 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Report Card: City school systems fare poorly against county systems Tyson: 'We don't want to use money as an excuse, but it docs make a big difference' KANNAPOLIS -- City school officials have often said that compar- ing performance of students in a city system to county systems is unfair, They have cited various differ- ences, primarily the greater financial resoumes of county systems and the make-up of the student body, According to the just released 1996 report card. all area city systems fared ltx~orly against other city systems in the slale. Ther~ are a total of 18 city sys- tems in the state, ranging in size from Chapel-Hill-Carrb~ro which graduated 433 students in 1996 to tiny Elkin and Weldun City. which each graduated .52 students. While Chapel Hill - Carrboro turned in some of the best numbers in student performance. Weldun City nailed down the 18th spot with dis- mai scores, Weldun City is one of two city systems in Halifax County. Roanoke Rapids is the other, On high school core courses. 72. I percent of the students in the Chapel HilI-Carrboro system were rated profieiem, or scoring at an A or B rate. In the Weldun City system, a total of 14. l percent of students rated proficient, the worst score turned in by any system. Of area city systems. Mooresville ranked 4th, coming in behind Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Roanoke Rapids, Shelby. Albemarle was 10'Ih and Kannapolis 15th on the core courses. Across the student performance categories including attendance. Mooresville had four ratings 9th or above _ the top half of tbe lg sys- tems, Albemarle and Kannapolis each scored in the top half in only one category. Albemarle was Ist in attendance and Kannapolis was 4th in 4th grade writing. Rankings by system in other areas include: Kannapolis -- 4th [n 4th grade writing; 10 in 7th grade writing: 14th in reading 3-8; 151h in math 3-8: I 1 in attendance; 15th for drop out rate of 3.85 percent. Mooresville -- loth in 4th grade writing; 15th in 7th grade writing: 4th in reading 3-8: 6th in math. 3-8: 9th in attendance and 16th for drop out rate of 4.32 percent. ^lbem~le -- 13th in 4th grade writing; I Ith in 7th grade writing; Independent Tdbune, Concord-Kannapolis, N.C. Wednesday, F~_bruary !_2:. 1~7. School Systems Comparison Core courses Writing - 4th Writing - 7th Cabarrus Schools Kannapolis City Rowan-Salisbury State Reading 3-8 Math 3-8 Numbers at the lop ot each graph show each school system's standing among the other 117 systems in the state. I Ith in reading 3-8; t2th in math 3- 8; Ist in attendance with a 97.82 per. centagc; 14th for drop out rate. Dr. Ed Tyson. superintendent of the Kannapolis City Schools. said this week that K.~nnapolis is improv- ing and doing so at a faster rate than the state average, Tyson and other city school offi- cials have repeatedly p~finted to the special revenue that many of the city districts get. either from a special tax or from thc city governmcmal unit. The Mca~rcsvillc district recei,.'cd around $ [ million each year from a special tax. '"'Ate don't want to use money as an excuse, but it does make a big dif- ference,'' said Tyson. "It buys a lot of things that you need for good instruction programs." Despite the lack of special city school flmding, they system has been very successful in thc past year or more in gelling extra funding through state grants, foundation granls and olher gifts. Tyson said at this point the best comparison that can be made is Io compare the city syslem to where it was a year or more ago. "We are making progress, Wc are moving faster."