“Failing schools” have Chicago at the tipping point. But what does this really mean?

The Illinois Policy Institute investigated the issue and found that almost half the students in the bottom 10% of Chicago’s public high schools could not do this problem:

As a bowling instructor, you figure your students’ averages during tournaments. In five games, one bowler had the following scores: 143, 156, 172,133, and 167. What was that bowler’s average?

A. 147

B. 153

C. 154

D. 156

E. 161

The problem requires students to find one bowler’s average score, based on the total number of points earned in five separate games. This sample is an actual problem from a standardized test.

Ted Dabrowski from the Illinois Policy Institute joined Good Day Chicago Tuesday morning to explain what the study’s results actually mean for a student that attends these “failing schools.”

He also addressed how the study showed half the students in those schools could only add, subtract, multiply and divide, and that one third cannot read an passage and successfully explain what the plot is.

But Dabrowski went on to explain how voters can solve this problem.

Sen. Rev. James Meeks proposed a bill in 2010 that would give students in these “failing schools” a way out – a voucher for money they could use to attend any private school of their choice. The bill passed in the State Senate with bipartisan support, but failed in the Illinois House.

Dabrowski said if the people can get this bill to pass into law, students in failing schools would have the option to attend a better one.