Unexpected Comments from P & C Editorial

Imagine my surprise to see the following comments in a Sunday editorial, after all the praise Superintendent McGinley has received in its news columns:

• What is surprising — even galling — is that the number of low-performing schools here is growing instead of shrinking.
• And what is equally distressing is that the number of Charleston County high school freshmen who read at a fourth grade level or below has grown since last year.
• What is most baffling is that students whose reading skills are so poor are able to master subject matter enough to be promoted to the next grade. How do they learn history without reading well? How do they write papers? How do they work word problems in math?
• The fact that they pass eighth grade raises a question about whether general academic requirements are rigorous enough.
• Doesn’t the district have a policy against social promotion?
• . . . there are dynamic alternatives the Charleston County School District hasn’t tried. And when the status quo continues to add schools to the Palmetto Priority Schools list, and when reading progress slips, it is time for more dramatic changes than we’ve seen proposed.
• There is likely no silver bullet to fix high schools whose students failed to receive adequate elementary school educations. And certainly schools serving children who live in poverty have a more difficult job than those whose children don’t face challenges that come with being poor.
• But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to shrink the number of low-performing schools. It just means deciding that failure is not an option, and taking the necessary steps to deliver all students an adequate education.

Is this school board up to that challenge? this superintendent?