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We pride ourselves on having top-rated schools in Pleasanton – best in the state. At the Sept. 25 board meeting, Superintendent Maurice Ghysels listed off several accolades, including PUSD being the 11th best school district in California. “All” students do not benefit from our accomplishments.
One of PUSD’s “bold” goals is: “All students, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, or gender will be proficient/advanced and college/career ready upon graduation.”
We are educating our African American students (230 students) just as well as the state of California as a whole. We greatly exceed California with almost every other population.
For example, for English language arts: PUSD overall is 67 points above standard, PUSD Asian students are 96 points above standard, PUSD white students are 47 points above standard and PUSD African American students are 57 points below standard.
The difference between African American students and PUSD as a whole is 124 points. African American students in overall California are 58 points below standard. Our 11th best school district in California isn’t educating these students as well as everyone else in the state.
We educate our homeless (100 students) and Pacific Islander (30 students) students significantly worse than California. Our Hispanic students continue to perform better than the state of California, but still 22 points below standard for ELA.
I pulled and analyzed this data myself. When compared to San Ramon Valley Unified School District (a like district), I found that while their overall scores don’t get as high as ours, they also don’t get nearly as low as we do in any demographic.
I am tired of sitting in meetings year after year hearing the same – albeit worse – data. The gap between our high achievers and low achievers continues to get wider.
The same populations of students continue to struggle. How are we OK with this?
I have been on the school site council for every level of school – and we talk about this every single year. This year I am on the Local Control Advisory Committee and, yet again, I see the same data.
It’s time to think outside of the box to find solutions. Let’s look into small group tutoring (Kumon-style), mentoring programs, financial incentives for attending tutoring, etc. Our inclination is to be defensive or instantly cite financial concerns. That has not been effective.
Anyone in our community that had a Black Lives Matter sign up in their house or car or office should be aware of this. Most Pleasanton parents are concerned with the number of AP classes offered and ability to increase GPAs, while getting private tutors and college counselors for their kids. Fair does not mean equal.
What we have been doing is not working.
We are very quick to pat ourselves on the back for having accomplished students. We need outside-of-the-box thinking to truly say that “all means all”. If you want to be a part of the solution, as I do, please reach out: allmeansall.pusd@gmail.com
Editor’s note: Christina Nystrom is a Pleasanton Unified School District parent, alum, volunteer and advocate.
