ANALYSIS: Yakima Valley School Report Cards 2014-15 until 2021-22

COVID was an eye-opening experience for parents of school-aged children. Zoom allowed parents to see what was happening in the classrooms, what was being taught, and what was not being taught. Through COVID, schools have changed direction on a myriad of issues such as how to best teach our children (see: CRT, Social Emotional Learning, etc.) as well as how to assess our children (taking away mentally gifted programs, taking away assessments, etc.). Now that we, parents, know what our children are being taught (not good), how they’re being assessed (or not), it is time to find out how they are doing.

One thing Washington State is good at is being transparent with some crucial statistics related to education. These statistics include how many children, down to the school level, are competent in reading and math. They also include how many children attend the school, the graduation rate of said school and how much money is spent per child at each school. These statistics were made public as far back as the 2014-15 school year. We have done a comparison from 2014-15 through this school year to see how schools have served our children in Yakima County.

The results are disastrous.

School NameStudents EnrolledMet ELA StandardsMet ELA Standards 2014-2015Met Math StandardsMet Math Standards (2014-15)Per-Pupil ExpenditureRegular Attendance
Moxee Elementary48948.10%54.10%51.30%55.70%13,77085.80%
Terrace Heights Elementary48143.30%45.40%32.70%47.20%13,49965.20%
East Valley Elementary51349.10%48.90%36.70%49.20%12,91476.20%
East Valley Central Middle School80145.20%44.50%34.90%37.20%12,50985.60%
East Valley High School99648.70%51.30%23.00%18.60%13,37593%
John Campbell Primary School499Data SuppressedData SuppressedData SuppressedData Suppressed13,14976.40%
Robert Lince Eaerly Learning Center415Data SuppressedData SuppressedData SuppressedData Suppressed32,41866.40%
Selah Middle School83345%54%26.50%48.00%12,18659%
Selah Intermediate School79342.20%51.60%37.40%41.00%12,26477%
Selah High School108948.542.70%23.525.70%12,72274.80%
Adams Elementary69210.80%24.60%6.10%27.40%15,44566.90%
Barge-Lincoln Elementary School55418.40%33.90%11.50%34.10%15,37862.1
Davis High School262032.50%9.30%10.90%2.30%13,26048.40%
Discovery Lab29836.20%53.40%21.30%45.00%14,75275.20%
Eisenhower High School214531.90%28.10%10.50%14.10%13,98369.70%
Franklin Middle School88429.40%43.30%8.70%28.80%12,87553.30%
Garfield Elementary49018.40%23.50%11.50%25.70%14,16564.90%
Gilbert Elementary School40130.20%39.50%17.30%27.80%16,05067%
Hoover Elementary71322.90%27.30%11.40%29.20%11,88466.90%
Lewis & Clark Middle School85724.90%25.40%6.80%18.00%12,75549.80%
MLK Jr. Elementary54020.70%26.20%9.00%28.80%13,40659.90%
Mcclure Elementary School58022.40%29.50%11.60%31.10%14,08560.90%
Mckinley Elementary School39922.50%27.80%11.50%26.80%12,60864.90%
Nob Hill Elementary43446.90%50.60%23.90%42.10%13,80886.30%
Ridgeview Elementary55725.70%27.80%19.70%26.80%14,81870.30%
Robertson Elementary45127.50%44.20%12.10%40.60%15,12063.80%
Roosevelt Elementary47635.10%30.20%18.80%27.50%14,63766.40%
Stanton Acadmey26711.30%13.10%4.00%< 5.00%19,46013%
Washington Middle School80520.20%24.00%7.80%15.80%12,79456.40%
Whitney Elementary40534.50%50.40%21.10%46.40%14,40681.70%
Wilson Middle School89436.70%41.85%18.30%26.10%12,55567.40%

Worst Three Schools In ELA Competency (2014-15 until now)

  1. Discovery Lab (2014-15: 53.4% of students passed ELA standards / 2020-21: 36.2%) Spends $14,752 per student
  2. Robertson Elementary (2014-15: 44.2% passed ELA standards / 2020-21: 27.5%) Spends $15,120 per student
  3. Whitney Elementary (2014-15: 50.4% passed ELA standards / 2020-21: 34.5%) Spends $14,406 per student

Worst Three Schools In Math Competency (2014-15 until now)

  1. Robertson Elementary (2014-15: 40.6% of students passed math standards / 2020-21: 12.1%) Spends $15,120 per student
  2. Whitney Elementary (2014-15: 46.4% passed math standards / 2020-21: 21.1%) Spends $14,406 per student
  3. Discovery Lab (2014-15: 45.0% passed math standards / 2020-21: 21.3%) Spends $14,752 per student

Are these acceptable numbers? Is it acceptable to spend $15,000 per student and see a drop of 28% in math competency as well as an almost 17% drop in ELA competency at one school in Yakima? It is not acceptable.

What Can You Do About It?

Show up for your school board meetings. Ask questions of your school board members. Ask them how they feel about this money being spent, consistently being given more money and yet, the results get worse and worse as the years go on. Hold your school board members accountable for your child’s education. Hold the administrators accountable. Ask them questions. If the Superintendent is not showing progress with competency in math and reading, why is your school board still signing his or her paycheck?

Source for all data: https://washingtonstatereportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/

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