Slideshow Friday

Take a look at this slideshow of Pennsylvania's reinvented Upper Darby High School.

Behold the trappings of a modern education.

• the Olympic swimming pool,
• the student operated credit union,
• the horticulture center,
• the majestic auditorium,
• the food and hospitality class,
• the preschool practicum class, and
  
• the cosmetology class (I kid you not).
  

It is like a Hollywood set though.

For behind the gaudy exterior lies a rotting structure of squalor and decay that houses the academic part of the school.

Upper Darby Senior High School

In the PSSA exam (PA's state exam)

48.3% passed reading (state avg: 64.2%)
40.1% passed math (state avg: 60.8%)

I'd estimate that passing the PSSA exam requires 8th grade level skills at best. I'm being generous.

The Average SAT score was 937. (55.1% of the students took the exam.)

The school is not making AYP under NCLB. The Whites and Asians are barely squeaking by. The Blacks have scores that you'd see in a typical Title I school (20th percentile).

The student population is diverse: White (58%), Black (28%), Asian (12), Hispanic (2%)

Supposedly 27.6% are economically disadvantaged (Household Income less than about $30k)

It is unfortunate that you can't buy your way to a good education.