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 Name | Students Enrolled | Met ELA Standards | Met ELA Standards 2014-2015 | Met Math Standards | Met Math Standards (2014-15) | Per-Pupil Expenditure | Regular Attendance |
| Moxee Elementary | 489 | 48.10% | 54.10% | 51.30% | 55.70% | 13,770 | 85.80% |
| Terrace Heights Elementary | 481 | 43.30% | 45.40% | 32.70% | 47.20% | 13,499 | 65.20% |
| East Valley Elementary | 513 | 49.10% | 48.90% | 36.70% | 49.20% | 12,914 | 76.20% |
| East Valley Central Middle School | 801 | 45.20% | 44.50% | 34.90% | 37.20% | 12,509 | 85.60% |
| East Valley High School | 996 | 48.70% | 51.30% | 23.00% | 18.60% | 13,375 | 93% |
| John Campbell Primary School | 499 | Data Suppressed | Data Suppressed | Data Suppressed | Data Suppressed | 13,149 | 76.40% |
| Robert Lince Eaerly Learning Center | 415 | Data Suppressed | Data Suppressed | Data Suppressed | Data Suppressed | 32,418 | 66.40% |
| Selah Middle School | 833 | 45% | 54% | 26.50% | 48.00% | 12,186 | 59% |
| Selah Intermediate School | 793 | 42.20% | 51.60% | 37.40% | 41.00% | 12,264 | 77% |
| Selah High School | 1089 | 48.5 | 42.70% | 23.5 | 25.70% | 12,722 | 74.80% |
| Adams Elementary | 692 | 10.80% | 24.60% | 6.10% | 27.40% | 15,445 | 66.90% |
| Barge-Lincoln Elementary School | 554 | 18.40% | 33.90% | 11.50% | 34.10% | 15,378 | 62.1 |
| Davis High School | 2620 | 32.50% | 9.30% | 10.90% | 2.30% | 13,260 | 48.40% |
| Discovery Lab | 298 | 36.20% | 53.40% | 21.30% | 45.00% | 14,752 | 75.20% |
| Eisenhower High School | 2145 | 31.90% | 28.10% | 10.50% | 14.10% | 13,983 | 69.70% |
| Franklin Middle School | 884 | 29.40% | 43.30% | 8.70% | 28.80% | 12,875 | 53.30% |
| Garfield Elementary | 490 | 18.40% | 23.50% | 11.50% | 25.70% | 14,165 | 64.90% |
| Gilbert Elementary School | 401 | 30.20% | 39.50% | 17.30% | 27.80% | 16,050 | 67% |
| Hoover Elementary | 713 | 22.90% | 27.30% | 11.40% | 29.20% | 11,884 | 66.90% |
| Lewis & Clark Middle School | 857 | 24.90% | 25.40% | 6.80% | 18.00% | 12,755 | 49.80% |
| MLK Jr. Elementary | 540 | 20.70% | 26.20% | 9.00% | 28.80% | 13,406 | 59.90% |
| Mcclure Elementary School | 580 | 22.40% | 29.50% | 11.60% | 31.10% | 14,085 | 60.90% |
| Mckinley Elementary School | 399 | 22.50% | 27.80% | 11.50% | 26.80% | 12,608 | 64.90% |
| Nob Hill Elementary | 434 | 46.90% | 50.60% | 23.90% | 42.10% | 13,808 | 86.30% |
| Ridgeview Elementary | 557 | 25.70% | 27.80% | 19.70% | 26.80% | 14,818 | 70.30% |
| Robertson Elementary | 451 | 27.50% | 44.20% | 12.10% | 40.60% | 15,120 | 63.80% |
| Roosevelt Elementary | 476 | 35.10% | 30.20% | 18.80% | 27.50% | 14,637 | 66.40% |
| Stanton Acadmey | 267 | 11.30% | 13.10% | 4.00% | < 5.00% | 19,460 | 13% |
| Washington Middle School | 805 | 20.20% | 24.00% | 7.80% | 15.80% | 12,794 | 56.40% |
| Whitney Elementary | 405 | 34.50% | 50.40% | 21.10% | 46.40% | 14,406 | 81.70% |
| Wilson Middle School | 894 | 36.70% | 41.85% | 18.30% | 26.10% | 12,555 | 67.40% |
Worst Three Schools In ELA Competency (2014-15 until now)
- Discovery Lab (2014-15: 53.4% of students passed ELA standards / 2020-21: 36.2%) Spends $14,752 per student
- Robertson Elementary (2014-15: 44.2% passed ELA standards / 2020-21: 27.5%) Spends $15,120 per student
- 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)
- Robertson Elementary (2014-15: 40.6% of students passed math standards / 2020-21: 12.1%) Spends $15,120 per student
- Whitney Elementary (2014-15: 46.4% passed math standards / 2020-21: 21.1%) Spends $14,406 per student
- 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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