Trojan_FB_Alum wrote: ↑Tue Nov 27, 2018 11:57 am
Portsmouth would have been competitive with Burg this year, PHS strength was running the ball, Burgs Dline was not that great. PHS would have a hard time guarding Holden and Mathews though. PHS could not afford to get down in a game like this and expect to make it back like we did against Ironton, but I don’t see Burg shutting Parker down. I think this would have turned into a shootout, with Portsmouth trying to shorten the game as much as possible by sustained drives.
Now with that said, Burgs superiority complex they have needs to be taken a look at. Are they good? Obviously. Congratulations on another great season, to follow up last years state title. Do they consistently score well on state test? Yes as well.
Let’s now examine this deeper, Burg is far an above the wellthiest school in Scioto county. Bellow I have listed the percent of free or reduced lunch, for some local districts.
Burg 30.12
West42.91
Valley 42.68
East 93.12
Ironton 52.4
Portsmouth 83.89
Studies have shown wealthy districts traditionally preform better then impoverished districts, this is not to say that a poor student can’t succeed but that they are at a marked disadvantage to start.
Next let’s take at special needs, the following is percentage by district
Portsmouth 25.26
Burg 11.28
West 15.77
Valley 14.57
Ironton 11.89
East 20.22
Once again, this doesn’t nessisarly kept a student from succeeding but is yet again another deterant. The majority of these kids are still required to take state testing as well and is represented in the state reports.
Now let’s look at Burgs open enrollment form
https://filecabinet5.eschoolview.com/3D ... t_Form.pdf
One of the first questions asked is does the student have an individualized education plan? Followed by “Has the Student ever been evaluated or referred for Special Education?”. To me, this is pretty clear that these questions are ask to exclude those students that may have special needs. This seems like it would be considered discrimination, however other state have ruled on it, and as long as the school doesn’t have the means to accommodate the student they don’t have to except them, allowing them to pick an choose who they want to open enroll and who they want to exclude. This can be as simple as not having enough intervention specialist.
So let’s not act like Burgs success is all based on their superior work ethic, and natural ability. It’s based on economics and lack of inclusion. It gets a lot easier when you can pick and choice who you want to bring into your system( as other districts lose some of their wealthier and non disabled students to them because state testing paints a picture of inferiority that couldn’t be farther from the truth.) I don’t blame parents for this misconception, and doing what they think is best for their children. I do blame people that put down other districts when they haven’t considered the factors that these test and even athletic results come out the way they do. Plain and simple the economic factors and open enrollment in this matter skews the playing field and gives some districts a huge advantage by disctminating certain students because they can do nothing for your district. This is what is truly sad, as we should all be asking what the district could be doing to help these children.
I will put Portsmouth top 25% of our kids against anyone as we have consistently had this segment of students score high on standardized testing, as well as scoring high on ACT and SATs. Portsmouth also offers duel credit courses, allowing students to earn college credit at the high school, without going to SSU for post secondary, or taking an Advanced placement course and test.
