Parkland School District is ranked 21st in the state, which is nice. Its grade is A plus, which is even nicer. There were 18 generally positive reviews, too. But from there it goes downhill.
#64 - East Penn School District
#72 - Wilson Area School District
#80 - Nazareth Area School District (Although the reviews were generally good, one student complained that "I was bullied and was treated unfairly because of my race at this school. The administration did nothing and I had to handle this on my own. I pray for any kid that has to go to this school. My best advice is to get your education and make it out on top. Don't worry about people, worry about your future."
#87 - Southern Lehigh School District
#96 - Palisades School District
#105 - Salisbury Tp School District
#112 - Northwestern Lehigh School District
#117 - Saucon Valley School District
#141 - Whitehall Coplay School District
#145 - Bethlehem Area School District (There were an amazing 29 reviews, and only one was negative)
#155 - Northampton Area School District
#161 - Lehighton Area School District
#208 - Easton Area School District
After #262, Niche stops ranking the schools and assigns a grade instead.
B minus:
Pen Argyl Area School District
Bangor Area School District
Catasauqua Area School District
Northern Lehigh School District
C Minus:
Allentown City School District.
Interestingly, there were 13 reviews of Allentown from former students who were generally positive. One former student said it is "like being in a melting pot of different cultures and races." Another complimented the teachers as "encouraging" and "well-rounded."
East Penn?
ReplyDeleteSlate Belt, figures. Now the teachers want even more money.
ReplyDeleteBangor are the highest paid teachers in the IU20 yet is third from the bottom. Pay teachers based on results not entitlement
DeleteMissed East Penn. will check.
ReplyDeleteJust added. Thanks for catching my omission.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago, the Express-times ranked the Lehigh Valley school districts according to the latest math scores. Out of the 26 school districts, Bangor was 3rd from the bottom- just ahead of Dieruff and Allen. Every year, instead of higher test scores, we get higher taxes.
ReplyDeleteBernie, your topics are getting less interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe most important metric? "Percent of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch". 45% for Easton! That means almost half of students come from families who are at or below the poverty line. And thus the cycle of poverty continues.
ReplyDeleteAnd of coursxe, Wolf wants to limit PSSAs so these kinds of ratings can't be made. He's in bed with the Teacher Unions. I'm not surprised, considering the Allentown School District brings up the bottom of the barrel.
ReplyDeleteMy God there are a lot of school districts. Each is a fiefdom with it's own bloated administration and trough-feeding gravy train. NorCo has eight. Eight! PA has 67 counties. There should be no more than one district per county.
ReplyDeletePSSAs are a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteAnd shouldn't the schools with the lowest scores should get a bigger slice of the budget-pie anyway? They need the most help.
Without real competition there will not be improvement. Vouchers, different school approaches, and we will eventually find things that work better. The schools are all about the teachers and administrators, more money, more pensions, the students are just a means to the school bureaucracy ends.
ReplyDeleteLooks like schools are all about fat cats, administration, teachers. What about kids and tax payers? Home owners? Keep up good work Bernie!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteWere do these charter schools rate in this tragic affair. Are they in the districts were buildings reside or are they considered to be also in the districts were children are imported to and from?
My children are from the catty school district and my grade for some of the teachers and that particular administration is a F-! There failier to do justice for the children is reprehencible and repulsive.
REpublican redd
Northampton Area School District and it's spend-drift Superintendent has the temerity to keep raising school taxes, while their score of 155 in the state is not worthy of the never ending tax increases. This school board and their happy go-lucky Superintendent has to be put out to pasture. Bring back the good old days when the school board listened to the people and spending was curbed in NASD. All these people want to do is give out big annual salary increases, hire more teachers, provide more educational courses and build more buildings. People, this is not Parkland or East Penn School Districts and these scores prove this!
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with the school and its teachers. Its all socio-economics and demographics. Learning, teaching, respect all begins in the home. Teachers shouldn't have to babysit.
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:23 said:
ReplyDelete"My God there are a lot of school districts...PA has 67 counties. There should be no more than one district per county."
Yes, because our larger districts are the best performing [sarcasm intended].
Go back and look at the rankings. Larger districts do not mean better performance.
They should be looking at breaking up some of the larger, under-performing districts and clearing out some of the career bureaucrats that are hiding there.
Anon 6:27 said:
ReplyDelete"And shouldn't the schools with the lowest scores should get a bigger slice of the budget-pie anyway? They need the most help."
And that's an incentive to improve?
No, the parents of the schools in the lower-performing schools should be given vouchers to attend the school of their choice.
That way, the school - and the district - can work to fix the problem is.
Education as a physical institution needs to end. There was a time when social interaction: athletic events, dances, lunch, etc was an important part of the maturation process. That is not as relevant in the social setting today as it was in the past. Young people do not hang out at drive ins, the mall or like venues. They are social media driven. Work that forum. Social media and the cyber school are in the future whether you like it or not. Do things in the cyber classroom with appointment times for extra tutoring assistance on line. Saturday appoints for hands on. Parents will be responsible to ensure children are at the computer learning and not disrupting the classroom. Teachers will then teach. Both have to be responsible. Athletics will be a club sport just like youth leagues and funded that way. There is a lot to work out but the reduction in staff, building maintainence and non-classroom education expenses to the tax payer would be monumental. Society has changed and the educational has not kept up.
ReplyDelete"Bernie, your topics are getting less interesting."
ReplyDeleteYet here you are, at 4:21 am.
Our educational system is a total failure. Throwing more money at a already failed system doesn't solve the problems. We all know that the money just goes to the teacher's union, salaries and a sizeable benefits package.
ReplyDeleteSigned a former school system employee!
their are many ways to judge schools.if you look at schools at
ReplyDeletehttps://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/pennsylvania
the rankings from niche involve surveys? and student responses so factoring in a opinion and calling it fact is a stretch.
looking at various schools with usnews you can see that the hard numbers are closer between a high rated "niche" ranking and lower ranking schools.
as to costs and teachers you tend to get what you pay for.
expecting a world class education system for nothing is just laughable.
as to the priorities of schools they tend to respond to what the public wants
football is more important then chemistry lab for example.
try
http://articles.mcall.com/2013-10-01/news/mc-quakertown-football-player-1001-20131001_1_neck-injury-football-team-football-injuries
quakertown has six football coaches.
seems the town wants more football than education
Their? If you start a sentence like that, it is your own education that is deficient.
ReplyDeleteYou are not the grammar police in cognito are you?
Delete5.09
ReplyDeleteyep it is a piss poor way to start a sentence.
a product of a school that valued football over composition
of course you side stepped the hubris of how niche ranks schools for example.
if you want to play with stats you can prove almost anything.
ranking schools with percentages based of feelings and survey opinions is less than optimal.
take Parkland vs northampton or #22 vs #155
on usnews they are closer in hard numbers than niche would have you believe.
so which site would you want to believe?
or are both suspect?
@4:10
ReplyDeleteIf you are so displeased about it, did you leave voluntarily, forced out, or give up your retirement money?
my bad
ReplyDeleteparkland is #21
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteThe one up at 4:21 am could be like forest gumps principle. Seeking a little extra curricular activities with mothers of the innocent indigent ones it has authority over!
Here is a basic idea. Try going back to the basics and educate students. Common core academic education and test prepping all day is just a waste of time and money. Our kids deserve a better educational system.
ReplyDeleteThe Slate Belt is an educational desert. Look at the last election..says it all. Uneducated young people voted for Trump..out of ignorance. Bangor and Pen Argyl schools should be ashamed..but are they?
ReplyDeleteOur education system is not a failure. The people posting here need to take a good look in the mirror. Kids are coming out of Lehigh Valley schools and doing great things. Doctors, Business owners, Lawyers, Architects, Skilled Tradesmen/women. It is all what the student puts into his/her education and the family support behind the scene.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that there are more than 500 school districts in PA.
ReplyDelete