EDITORIAL: Is it time for state takeover of Gary's public schools?

Times of Northwest Indiana

The State Board of Accounts' two-year audit of Gary Community School Corp. offers additional evidence of the need for radical changes.

As the audit shows, too many people associated with the school district don't understand the urgency of the battle for the children's future.

The lowlight of last month's audit has to be the purchase of iPods and accessories, along with souvenirs and an extravagant General Jackson Showboat cruise, for the four Gary high school students who attended a career conference in Nashville, Tenn.

What did the students learn from the trip? Did they learn the value of hard work and ethical behavior? Or did they learn to squander public funds?

That's not the only improper spending the audit found. There was a $97 floral arrangement bought for a principal's birthday. There were 10 tickets to a $50-a-plate political fundraiser. There was an end-of-year party for office aides. There was a prayer breakfast paid for with school funds.

It would be bad enough for this to occur at a school district with a stellar record for education. But Gary's test scores put it solidly at the bottom of the state.

The best measure of a school district's performance is the ISTEP passing rate. The state average is 63.8 percent, which is appalling.

But Gary is worst in the state, with only 30.8 percent of its students passing both the English and math portions of the ISTEP. Indianapolis and Hammond are the only two other school districts in the state with passing rates below 40 percent, and those two districts' scores, while awful, are still significantly above Gary's results.

It's not as if Gary isn't throwing money at the problem. At a per-pupil expenditure of $10,200 (tied with Hammond), Gary is spending $1,500 more per child than the state average.

The school district has been placed on academic probation under Public Law 221, the state's version of the No Child Left Behind Act. That law allows the state to intervene when schools aren't performing as they should. Gary is the only district in the state to be on probation for two years now.

State education officials seem reluctant to take over the school district, but we're getting impatient. How many second chances should the school district be given? How many children will have to go through schools that aren't delivering the results they should?

The State Board of Accounts audit shows the commitment to excellence just isn't there in some schools. The district's test scores show clearly the need to focus on student achievement, not frills for individuals.

Recoup the misspent funds, but also instill in all administrators, faculty and staff the urgent need to focus resources and efforts or improving test scores.

How long will parents, residents and employers continue to put up with this troubled system before demanding the state Department of Education take it over?