Submitted by John Arbeeny.
On 5 April 2023 the Washington Policy Center published “New State Data Identifies the Lowest-Performing Public Schools in Washington”, and CPSD has the dubious distinction of having four schools on the list.
Coincidently, The News Tribune published an article on 12 April 2023, “Best Schools in WA Ranked, These Are Top 5 in Pierce County”, in which none of CPSD’s elementary, middle and high schools “made the grade”.
Sadly, these articles point up the academic truth in 2022 about Lochburn Middle School (MS) and Four Heroes, Park Lodge and Tyee Park Elementary Schools (ES) specifically (four schools among the lowest) and CPSD generally (no schools in top five). Here is each school’s percentile ranking out of all schools (MS or ES) statewide (source Schooldigger.com):
- Lochburn MS 2022: 530th out of 540 MS (2.0%)… 98% of middle schools do better
- Four Heros ES 2022: 1102nd out of 1169 ES (5.7%)… 94.3% of elementary schools do better
- Park Lodge ES 2022: 1100th out of 1169 ES (5.9%)… 94.1% of elementary schools do better
- Tyee Park ES 2022: 1096th out of 1169 ES (6.2%)…93.8% of elementary schools do better
How is it even possible that these schools could have sunk and remained this low academically, and no one noticed, cared or did something about it? Academic data back to 2004 shows these four schools have seldom if ever risen above 10% (90% of schools do better academically). Would you want your children to attend any of these schools?
In a recent interview with CPSD parents concerns were expressed about Oakbrook Elementary and Hudtloff Middle Schools. Research determined that there indeed was reason for concern as illustrated below by comparing their highest academic year ranking 2013-2015 and ranking as of 2022.
- Oakbrook ES ranking 2015: 415th out of 1067 elementary schools (61%)… 39% of schools do better
- Oakbrook ES ranking 2022: 826th out of 1169 elementary schools (29%)… 71% of schools do better
- Hudtloff MS ranking 2013: 119th out of 498 middle schools (76%)… 24% of schools do better
- Hudtloff MS ranking 2022: 500th out of 541 middle schools (7.6%) … 92.4% of schools do better
How is it possible that these two then excellent schools, in the top 40% – 25%+ of all State schools 2013 – 2015 should plummet so far and so quickly? When is the CPSD Board going to demand answers from the Superintendent on this intolerable situation? Our children deserve better.
So what’s the solution? First we need to define the problem, the first step in problem solving. Indeed the problem, evidenced by long standing and free falling academic achievement since 2013 – 2015 in many of CPSD schools can be laid directly at the feet of the Board and Superintendent.
The de-emphasis of academics and disregard of test results in favor of cultural indoctrination is perhaps the main reason for this decline. Refusal to deal with this brutal reality only perpetuates it, as top leadership would rather attack the message and messenger. Take a look at the December 2022 Inside Schools issue which out of eight full pages dedicated only a tiny 3” x 3” space to academics which laid academic failure at COVID’s feet. Enough said!
Recently the Hudtloff Middle School Principal’s briefing to the School Board (13 March 2023) skipped lightly over the significant academic decline over the last few years (let alone 9 years); and yet no one really asked about the cause, chalking it up instead to COVID when in fact the decline was well underway pre-COVID. Instead, the briefing included several slides showing “programs” to deal problems that were never addressed. No one asked what was tried before and failed or how these allegedly “new” programs were bound to succeed. Such programs are bound to fail in view of unresolved systemic issues, like problem definition, ignored at senior management level. These “Band-Aids” will not stop the bleeding despite the best of intentions.
Part of the fallout of “cultural indoctrination” has been the elimination of “zero tolerance discipline” replaced by racial/ethnic-based discipline. This has led to a toxic learning environment, most recently at Hudtloff where a serious incident was, for the most part, concealed from the Board with the Superintendent’s assurance that it had been dealt with. You can’t keep the cover on this pressure cooker and not expect it to explode.
CPSD’s approach to its academic failure is akin to the story about the Emperor’s clothes. We see published anecdotal accounts of success, individual achievement, the newest technology and programs which serve as little more than a smoke screen to conceal the reality behind them: great Public Relations, lousy reality. Now the smoke has been blown away by recent artilcles and it is clear to anyone with their eyes open and willing to see that academically the “Emperor has no clothes”!
See more on LakewoodCARES.org.
It is easy to mistake effort for results. As the district works through next years budget what will the priorities be? Will spending more money make us better? It is insanity to continue doing the same things without seeing improving results. We have many outstanding individuals working in the district but we are not getting the academic results that our community deserves. What should we try next? How should we measure success of our students? If our community is to be successful in the future we need to help our students be successful today. If our readers will share their thoughts on how to improve maybe our district leadership will be accountable to the will of the citizens.
Please address the increased violent beahviors and property distructive behaviors occurring in CPSD schools this school year. A teacher at Hudtloff was attacked by student(s), during a class! Another Hudtloff student was stomped on by other students earlier in this school year. Just to site two violent examples of how safe things have been this year. This is not only occurring at Hudtloff, but at the other secondary schools in CPSD as well, and at many of the elementary schools in CPSD!
Yes, elementary students are coming to school, hurting teachers, destroying rooms and equipment, and scaring other students in the process.
The reformed discipline policy of CPSD and the hand tying it does to administrators, teachers and other school staff is making this so much worse.
Why are academic results tanking, the lack of safe learning environments in many CPSD schools over the past years!
Before 2023/24 school year, CPSD has to change the discipline system to fix the issue of poor performance.
This is part of the District’s elimination of “zero tolerance” and institution of raced based “…. culturally responsive discipline’ that encourages school staff to impose disciplinary policies that may be adapted to individual student needs in a culturally responsive manner.” In “plain speak” this means that teachers have to deal with the disparity in suspensions and expulsions based on race to “even things out”: i.e.equity.
So what we have are miscreants who are acting out in class, with little fear of consequences and who are allowed to remain in class and ruin the learning experience for other students actually interested in learning. Again the exception rules. Rather, when it comes to discipline, CPSD should rule by exception.
Students who misbehave (the exception to the rule) should be removed from class, sent to a facility where behavior standards are strictly enforced and consequences real. They should remain there until their behavior changes before they are readmitted to District schools. Isn’t that the reason behind an alternative education facility?
The behavioral issues that go on checked and ignored in CPSD schools are the root of the problem. Teaching, learning need calm, safe and supported academic environments. Currently, none of these schools have this because of the discipline policy limits, and the inept administration/superintendent/school board.
If the community wants better academic progress, then they must demand a return to discipline policies and punishments in place prior to academics nose diving!
My question is this. Have either of you gentlemen taught in a public school? Mr. Arbeeny is a former official for the city, if I am not mistaken. I believe that he continues to show his racist thoughts here in this publication. Mr. Wakemann is a sitting board member, also, if I am not mistaken. He was highly promoted for the office by Mr. Arbeeny.
After reading the article I have these thoughts. Neither gentlemen offers anything that I would consider to be constructive, informative, or helpful. The two organizations that are provided in this letter are biased in my opinion.
The SchoolDigger website says that the site was built by a software developer. I see nothing that shows that he, or any member of this company, has any expertise in evaluating schools. The company buys, sells, and collects data about schools nationwide. It is obvious, to me, that he is in it only for the money. I have found a lot of critique of this company. The site was actually built as a tool for real estate. The owner started the site after he decided to place his children in private schools. The comments that I read included questions about the rating system. How do they determine the ranks for schools? Does their rating system provide accurate information? Is the data and conclusions correct? There are also suspicions that the members of the board self assess the company. Then post on the company website giving glowing reviews.
As for the group LakewoodCARES. Who are these guys? I heard that they are a group that meets at Bur’s. I may be wrong but I believe that they are republicons. I also believe that they attempt to have the city run as they see fit regardless of any election to office.Their website provides no real information about this group. Again who are these guys?
Ultimately I am not impressed with the ideas provided by the author and the first commentator. The author provides only his racist opinions. He also promoted Mr. Wakeman during his successful run for a position on the school board. I think that they are wolves in sheep clothing. They try to project a well reasoned argument but fail
Ir appearstomethat they want the schools run the way they want. I am still waiting to hear about book banning and other unpopular positions. It is my opinion they hide their true intentions.
I do see that they are very good at asking questions in the mold of Tucker Carlson. Plenty of questions are asked, but never is there a good answer provided.
There, I have defined the problem as I see it. Republicons trying to gaslight the community. We don’t live in the South.
LakewoodCARES is registered to Arbeeny – some sort of non-profit designed to lend more authority to his agenda. https://opengovwa.com/corporation/602056722
I wonder how many of those businesses listed are legit?
Please see my comments in response to Wageman.
These two men may be not of your or my taste, however there is a very real lack of ability to apply disciplinary action in CPSD to date, and it is sucking the learning environment potential out of the entire district at record breaking speed.
School Board Director Paul Wagemann’s invitation, above, for readers to share their ideas on improvement of the Clover Park School District’s performance is important. The Suburban Times would be a good forum for the dissemination of ideas throughout the community, which could eventually be communicated to the District and School Board. If the intent of suggesting improvements is sincere among readers, the response will consist of thoughtful ideas, not name-calling. Name-calling is how people respond when they have no positive ideas.
I suggest implementing the same policies and systems that some of us pay a lot of money for, to privately school our kids.
If it wasn’t working, we would not be shelling out the cash.
It’s a darned shame that we must also fund a public school system that refuses to do what it takes to get these proven results.
The money is being spent one way or another.
The technology is available for all involved to track results in real time.
The decision to deviate from that opportunity, and then to waste time defending that decision, that is what failure stems from.
Government cannot spin up enough nonessential jobs to absorb enough people, to prevent an economic collapse in this country.
We need a future generation that can self-sustain and produce real value.
Those who can’t or won’t compete, for whatever reason, should not be allowed to drag down those who can and will.
With hard work, great success can be made outside of academia as well, because by God this is America!
What’s sad is that the current seated director has no vision or plan for the district outside of his racist, alt-right agenda. I appreciate the show that Lakewood Cares puts on each time with their articles full of disinformation and calculated responses from their group and alt-right partners of the Republican party. At least they are consistent with the buffoonery. Perhaps they should focus on what the experts are repeatedly saying, which is students are struggling, and there is not enough funding to provide social and emotional support. Maybe Lakewood Cares, which claims to care about the needs of children in this district, would better serve the community by finding positive reinforcement for students and families than all the divisive tactics they employ. Expert after expert has stated that children can not learn until their other needs are addressed, no matter how badly we want them to. Look at the health department’s report. Listen to the teachers and the professionals who work hands-on day after day with the students in the district. And quite frankly, many of them are tired and not coping well with the after-effects of the pandemic, yet the Lakewood Cares group seems to think children should be able to manage better than adults. Lakewood Cares, please stick to the dirty politics and leave our kids alone.
You sure love to spew out old scores, forget that we had/have a pandemic, forget that our district has over 70% diversity, especially with rapidly evolving military families moving in and out (which account for most of our districts scores rising ans dropping), forget that not everyone has a good or reliable income, forget that people couldn’t afford childcare before, during or after the pandemic, forget that we lost staff in the district, and you think students are only measurable by a score. It seems the only one who really has a problem here is you, and your bs right wing talking points trying to stir up lies and conspiracy theories. Just stop, you’re embarrassing yourself.
According to “Lakewood CARES” and the righteous, we have:
• A problem: Academic decline;
• A conclusion: Failing discipline;
• A cause: Cultural indoctrination (equity);
• A reason: No one cared;
• And someone to blame: The Superintendent.
“How is it even possible that these schools could have sunk and remained this low academically, and no one noticed, cared or did something about it,” asks our prominent CPSD critic. In weighs another advocating the “obvious solution,” private schools.
Over ninety percent of Pierce County students (PK, K-12) attend public schools, the central and defining bulwark of educated, responsible civic capacity essential to American democracy for two centuries. “Equity,” too “woke” for some it seems, in concept and practice, seeks precisely what every good private school attempts – to meet each student as an individual with particular need and potential, recognizing a vast range of origin and achievement variability, support and potential, in order to facilitate a maximal learning environment and experience.
No one recognizes the challenge and task of education better than those whom we have elected and hired for CPSD 400. And yes, COVID was a bomb, leaving wreckage for a generation to repair amid a fractious universe of social media distraction and misinformation.
One thing we could all do to help would be to adjust our attitude, truly care, and offer support to the children, families and community that our school district seeks to enlighten – equity and all.
So what exactly is equity to you Bob?
It seems to me to be: no one moves faster than the slowest member of the group.
Or is it that anyone in the group can do as they please, but the rewards will be the same?
I’m not trying to be “righteous” as you satirically suggest.
I’m genuinely interested in our young people achieving a good outcome from their and our huge investment of time and money.
The private school model would not be viable if it were not successful. It’s not a secretive locked-away thing.
Why do you dismiss that?
If suggesting these alternatives makes one “righteous”, then what do you call a drug addict dying on the street, or worse yet, one who pushes that poison unto the minds and bodies of our youth?
What do you call the perpetual victim who will not try, because someone told them they don’t have to?
What do you call an elderly person who is destitute after a lifetime of unproductive decision-making?
What is this word “equity” these days, and how does it make US better?
I spent the day out volunteering with my children – locally public school educated now university students. Coming home to see this, and having knowledge of the goings on in CPSD from my partner, I agree about the lack of strict/zero tolerance discipline being the origin of all the dropped performance across the district. Change the discipline policies back to zero tolerance and see performance improve!
Curious why you didn’t mention the teachers in your comments – CPSD has been and will continue to bleed good educators due to the changes to discipline policies. THAT is the root of all of this. The lack of discipline in the district.
Teachers hands are tied, and many must be feeling stressed out and in fear themselves because a number of students in the district are in fact destroying property, hurting teachers and paraprofessionals physically, and quite simply endangering all of the other children around them.
This is very much a discipline code issue, and I suspect a parenting issue at this point too.
Another responder here asked – where are the parents? I second that!
Teachers deserve a professional, safe, supportive work environment as much as our children deserve an academic focused and safe classroom environment.
Where are the PARENTS in this tragedy???
Nowhere mentioned, and why?
An- How would you expect parents to be involved in this tragedy?
This is a poorly disguised attempt to push the agenda of charter schools forward. Private/charter schools have different test scores as they limit students with external challenges from attending their schools., who then end up in even less funded public schools.
CPSD no doubt needs more support, not less in addressing the academic needs of students post-COVID.
I’m happy to read that I am not the only one troubled by the “bottom of the barrel” rankings mentioned or the quickly dropping CPSD schools that once were performing much better.
I am a product of both Tyee and Lochburn and while I don’t know how the two schools rated in the 70’s, I am certain the the CPSD as a whole was much better in those days.
Two things I would like to point out. 1) Prior to COVID a CPSD levy was passed by the voters. The District needed the levy to maintain funding so achievement could be sustained. 2) All schools in the state went through COVID, so to use that as an excuse is a mute point. The District’s dropping rankings happened at the same time that other schools rose above them.
The big questions … Why were CPSD schools not able to surpass other schools during remote learing? Where does the buck stop? With the teachers, the principals, the Super Intendant? I see that CPSD needs a drastic change.
@Batman, where is CRT taught in the district, which subject is it being taught in, and who is teaching it? You can’t answer those questions because CRT is not taught in the district- see how critical thinking works. You ask questions instead of just going along with the status quo. And recycling information that has already been debunked over and over @KM Hills, we all know the reason other districts did better than CPSD is that many of those schools serve more financially stable families, i.e., 70% of the student populations are not receiving free and reduced lunch and are less migratory, i.e., not a large military population, and Mckenny Vento students and more families have a two-parent household. When you compare CPSD to other districts, you are comparing apples to oranges. @Daniel Sova, a strict zero-tolerance policy penalized students for things out of their control, especially those with disabilities and those who may not understand school policies or cultural norms. And Black and brown children, according to the data, are punished more for things that are considered subjective, leading to early justice involvement when it should not have. Equity means removing barriers, for example, providing assistance for visual learners who have math problems read to them. Recognizing the learner has difficulty solving a math problem they can’t see and allowing the student to write it down and solve the same problem as everyone else that’s equity.
@ Concerned Citizen You are mistaken. No one is singling out special needs children. For general education students, yes, the discipline enforcement needs to be stepped way up. Most of CPSD is more lower income/ethnically non-white and that is what it is. So? An academic learning environment should be expected and able to be upheld. For all of the children, the teachers, and the rest of the staff in our CPSD schools.
When a child or children continually come in to CPSD schools, defy the teachers and administrators, damage school property and/or fellow students’ property, are violent to others, etc, there should be consequences. It is better to preserve or improve the environment for the other 29 students in a class, than to repeatedly return 1 disruptive, or, even in some cases, violent student to that class over and over. Intervention has to occur not at the expense of the 29 who did show up to learn and follow rules and expectations.
Stop promoting catering to the 1 while ignoring that CPSD is now failing the other 29 on average per class!
The PROBLEM is that the school system decided to focus more on race than academics. Remove CRT and maybe the rates will rise. Don’t advance someone simply because of their skin color. Hold kids back when they’re not doing well instead of just trying to push them through the system at the same rate as their peers. Get better teachers – people who actually want to be there; no insane liberals that want to partake in pedophilic behavior and talk about gender instead of school subjects. Beyond that, you have to look at parent participation. How are these kids supposed to have the motivation to learn when their parents couldn’t care less and just behave ghetto and blame everything on the system? If you look at better ranking schools, things like booster clubs are more prominent and the parents overall are caring more about their child’s education.
Facts have nothing to do with „righteousness“: they are just facts.
EDI is CRT notwithstanding your redefinition of same to be more palatable. It is part of a Marxist ideology based upon race/ethnicity versus economics. It is NOT about individual needs but rather group „needs“ as the determining factor on who gets what from whom.
Facts are not racist: they are just facts.
Impugning motive is a logical fallacy that deflects from the facts: kill the messenger if you can’t kill the message.
„Old facts“ are still facts: it’s called history. Old facts are vital in determining trends. Where we’ve been often determines where we are and where we will be going.
Caring is as caring does. For nearly 20 years Lochburn Middle School has languished below 10 percentile among all State middle schools. That is a fact. I challenge any of my critics to research Board minutes to discover a single instance when this travesty was discussed or any alleged solutions to deal with this failure.
So for those of you who didn’t go to the referenced website, here are the historical facts for Lochburn Middle School by year by percentile (%) ranking among all State middle schools:
2004-5.9%
2005-6.4%
2006-8.2%
2007-3.2%
2008-5.6%
2009-6.3%
2010-7.7%
2011-5.5%
2012-4.4%
2013-6.0%
2015-11.9%
2016-5.9%
2017-3.0%
2018-3.2%
2019-3.9%
2021-2.8%
2022-2.0%
You don’t need an education degree to read the writing on the wall. All you have to do is a bit of research to determine that the experts haven’t figured it out.
COVID has been the „go to“ excuse for CPSD academic failure. How then us it possible that other districts and indeed some schools within CPSD have excelled despite COVID? Maybe our experts should learn from them.
Demographics, free lunch, military connected students, etc. etc. etc. have too long been used as excuses by the alleged experts to avoid accountability. Are CPSD students really that dull witted? „It is a poor workman that blames his tools.“ If you can’t figure out how to work successfully with what you’ve got them maybe you’re in the wrong business. When all you have are lemons maybe you should be making lemonade… instead if excuses.
LakewoodCARES.org
Once again, the “brains” and I use that word loosely behind the never ending anti CPSD agenda are seeing what they want to see— and spewing whatever comes to mind. What parent conversation about Hudtloff and Oakbrook? A website no one has heard of creating rankings? Funny how they take the time to slam schools but go silent when a school is able to demonstrate success. Mr. Wagemann sat there as one of his school board colleagues commended one of the elementary schools in the very district he “serves” (again using the word loosely) as being an example for the state. I can’t remember which one— it was a base school a few months ago. These “concerned citizens” find the time to attack the schools, the principals, the parents, and the district on social media and yet never actually comment or applaud anything good. Perhaps someone can send them the link to the CPSD Facebook so they can see the good going on in the schools they’re allegedly so concerned about? But they’ll never give up their agenda. Rising test scores and achievements in schools across the district? Not okay. Darn kids ruining their narrative.
Perhaps you missed the Suburban Times article I published on 3/13/23 entitled “Minorities Do Best in the Best Schools and Those Schools Are the Ones on Joint Base Lewis McChord”.
https://thesubtimes.com/2023/03/13/letter-minorities-do-the-best-in-the-best-schools-and-those-schools-are-the-ones-on-joint-base-lewis-mcchord/
Schooldigger is well recognized as a source for school data. Indeed it provides long term trends based upon OSPI data that is not readily available from OSPI. As we’ve seen in just the past few weeks other sources (TNT, WPC) are picking up on this.
Please provide the facts that you allege show in increase in test score across the District.
“Good things” going on should result in good things as a result: like academics. If not, the “goodness” of those things is in question. You don’t award an “A” for effort but rather results.
The in-person interview was with a couple whose children are in Oakbrook and headed to Hudtloff. She is a product of CPSD (graduated 20 years ago) who has an inside look at the academic achievement and discipline situation in these two schools which is emblematic District wide. One child was a super achiever but now shows all the signs of clinical depression brought on by rapid turnover in principals, teachers, boredom and stressful , disruptive disciplinary environment.
LakewoodCARES.org
You have an interesting definition of an interview. Sounds like a conversation— unless you actually published said interview. Surely you can acknowledge that a parent’s perspective MAY be skewed out of concern or standing by their child?
I make no distinction between between the terms. Interviews need not be published to be valid. These parents asked to come to a CARES meeting to address their concerns in private as they fear retribution from the District or school aimed at their children. This is a common theme in other interviews CARES has conducted with teachers, staff and parents. What a terrible environment in which anonymity is your only protection.
Parental bias is entirely possible as with all anecdotal evidence. However, these parents have to live with this every day with their children. We’ve seen the “tip of the iceberg” with respect to a serious incident at Hudtloff of which the Board was not fully informed, only being told it “had been taken care of”.
The recent CPSD budget survey just completed reveals that a couple of the very top concerns expressed for budget prioritization were discipline and learning environment! This presentation was part of the agenda of last Monday’s Board workshop and and can be viewed on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jURhvlCaEzc.
There is a discipline problem in CPSD and now it’s confirmed. The break down of discipline has a detrimental impact on learning environment and affects students’ mental health just as the parents interviewed had claimed.
I’ve been a farmer, a soldier, and a businessman.
Each one of those professions required a quantifiable, performance-based, net-positive achievement, in order to remain viable.
There was intense competition for the opportunity that each afforded. That competition made us all stronger and better.
Those who overcame adversity were always the ones who advanced, while those who reached for excuses fell behind.
The opportunity was the same until those personal decisions were made.
Covid showed the extent of which we are sustaining “non-essential” job positions within government today, created to oversee the producers.
This is a growing trend – an ever-growing bureaucracy looming over the daily lives of freedom, independence, and opportunity.
This didn’t manufacture itself out of thin air.
It began in the public school system where kids are “taught” that they can be rewarded regardless of their efforts and contributions (equity).
They are being taught that they can fail-up, even achieving a position of authority and oversight, above those who are actually building and maintaining the things our economy needs to remain viable.
This is always the slow march to Marxism and decline.
As a Democrat from a very different time, John Kennedy said “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
Today if you do nothing, there is a government program to pick up every inch of your slack.
You can thank Kennedy’s successor for that and other pivotal events.
America has been tearing itself apart ever since.
Those who are screaming for equity, diversity, inclusion, acceptance, pity, attention, are going to be the most-shocked when they lose their freedom to a foreign enemy who seized the opportunity they shunned.
Brace for impact.
Ok what? If you read this throughly you will see this is entirely disjointed. You’re bouncing from education in your time period to Covid to communism to bracing yourself? Where is your logic? All I’m seeing is a tirade against what you see as enemies within. I don’t see facts, proper explanations, or really any purpose to your comment. God help anyone that believes this hogwash.
No Owen, what is disjointed is the lack of an effort to usher today’s kids into adulthood, where they can be self-sustaining and independent of public assistance.
What I see is a public assistance bureaucracy, intent on keeping these young people dependant on public assistance.
Is it any wonder there is a respect and discipline problem in these schools?
You can be powerful or pitiful but not together at the same time.
I used to go to Hudtloff in 2012. I hate to say it but things were different then. We had different tests, pristine equipment, so and so forth. Other schools didn’t. I knew kids from Lockburn who said it wasn’t like that there. They struggled to have the necessary amount of supplies, while we, Hudtloff, had a new building built. We had at least 3 desktop computers per classroom, hundreds of laptops, police guarding the front the whole day, and a working camera system. The only security Lockburn had was the occasional police that showed up when someone was violent. We had supplementary teaching if we needed it. Homework help, club activities in every field, breakfast, lunch, and dinner(i think). Even a DnD group at one point. Lockburn? Naw. Now, I never went to CPHS. My parents, having sent 3 other children to it decided I would be home schooled for two years and then go to running start rather than spend any time in CPHS. Also part of the reason the grades are so low at CPHS is Running Start. Most that are able, become full time students at Pierce College. The only requirements is that you be at least 16 (you can actually go in earlier if the dean permits you) and pass the tests. The tests are about not that difficult and the scoring isn’t even that demanding. (I don’t know. I was a Toddler). To compare scores from different time periods is unfair. We have different laws, rulers, processes, and distractions. Now, I agree that there’s an issue with scoring being this low. However, I believe it’s mainly because lack of proper budgeting and analytics. It’s like taking a survey from a poor man and a middle class and wondering why the average income is below average.
“To compare scores from different time periods is unfair.” Not really! It’s how trends are established over time, since 2004 in this case. True that there may be changes to account for “….different laws, rulers, processes, and distractions…” and testing but those changes affect all schools over time. So, taking a historical look at one school failing over time as compared to others encountering the same environment yet succeeding over the same time is a valid way of determining the relative trends of both schools in comparison with each other.
Your parents did you a favor by home schooling. CPHS currently ranks at 3 percentile: 97% of State high schools are academically superior.