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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > August > 23 > Entry
Editorial: STEM school spreads choice beyond Dayton
Ten years ago, before the start of Ohio’s charter school movement, Dayton high school students didn’t have great options.
There was the acclaimed Stivers School for the Arts, but it requires a successful audition to get in. And there were the two well-regarded, but tuition-based, Catholic high schools — Chaminade-Julienne and Carroll — in the city limits. The rest of Dayton’s high schools were among Ohio’s lowest scorers on state proficiency exams.
Things have changed remarkably and for the better, thanks to innovative new public high school choices that were incubated both by Dayton’s school district and by charter school supporters.
Consider a few:
• Dayton Early College Academy. An experimental school begun by the district and the University of Dayton, it pushes high-schoolers to college-level work quickly and now rivals Stivers for top scores in the city.
• David Ponitz Career Technology Center. The district’s just-opened tech high school boasts state of the art equipment and a promising partnership with Sinclair Community College.
• ISUS. This charter school offers dropouts a second chance to learn job skills in construction and health care while finishing high school.
• Dayton Technology Design High School. A district-sponsored charter school for dropouts, it teaches entrepreneurial skills and has an impressive track record of getting kids to college.
The new options have been good for Dayton, offering students who were dissatisfied with, or failing in, low-performing traditional city high schools.
The latest new high school option in the region debuted this week with a twist: it’s open to any student in a three-county area. Bringing new and more good high school options to suburban and rural districts is an idea whose time has come.
The Dayton Regional STEM School launched in Beavercreek with 93 ninth-graders from 20 districts in Montgomery, Clark and Greene counties. The plan is to expand to 600 kids in grades 6 to 12 during the next few years.
The school, which couldn’t have happened without Wright State University’s support, resembles the early college model, but with a heavy science and math focus, including classes in conceptual physics and engineering design. It boasts an intimate, collaborative climate and a first-class list of education, business, industrial, community and government partners.
It looks more than promising.
Ohio made a good bet when it invested in STEM schools — public schools with charter-like funding redirected from the students’ home school districts, in addition to additional direct money from the state.
In many rural high schools, there is only one high-school option. There may not be nearby private or other public schools, and sometimes rural districts cannot afford to offer a wide variety of course work. A few of the STEM school kids are making long drives from New Carlisle, Cedarville, Brookville and Germantown, likely in search of more advanced instruction.
Some suburban districts do offer lots of course options, but, for some kids, their large high schools are overwhelming or they just don’t fit in. For them, changing schools generally requires shelling out money for private school tuition. Even in a top performing rural or suburban school district, some kids can’t find a niche that allows them to thrive. The STEM school now offers them another quality option.
Creating more places where educators can push the envelope by trying out new school models, and where students can seek out programs that are the right fit for them, is good for Ohio. It’s a trend that should be nurtured.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: City of Dayton, Editorials, Education, Rural Communities, Scott Elliott, Suburban Communities
Comments
By null
September 3, 2009 6:45 PM | Link to this
If it works we will defund it. If it does not work we will give it additional resources to prove it can be turned around.By Tony
September 6, 2009 12:38 PM | Link to this
Null has a point. This seems to be what Governor Strickland is doing in regards to funding schools: Take from the good, give to the bad.