Failing Schools Have Many Causes

 By Marlene Caroselli

Failing schools have many causes from the lack of adequately prepared teachers to not enough support and involvement on the part of parents, the community and businesses. Poor and negative attitudes on the part of students must also be factored into the failure equation.

We only need to look around us to see many of these negative forces playing out in our schools. For example: There are only 8.7 miles separating the school system in Pittsford, New York, from the school system in Rochester, New York. But, in terms of scholastic separation, the two systems are 429 placements apart.

According to the rankings of New York State school districts for 2013 (G. Schott Thomas,“2013 Upstate New York school district ranking, Business First, October4 20, 2013), Pittsford placed first among the 48 counties that constitute Upstate New York. Rochester was ranked last on the list. The city school superintendent, Bolgan Vargas, describes the graduation rate of 43% (and the college-readiness figure of 10%) as “painfully unacceptable.”

Lest you are tempted to think that a wealthy suburb – and Pittsford surely is that – is  spending more money per pupil than the city can spend, you may be surprised to learn the per-student expenditure in Rochester is $21,000, almost twice the national average. [Pittsford spends considerably less, $18,974 for the 2012-13 school year. The causes leading to failing schools are numerous and entwined.

Failing schools have many causes. Rochester schools are no exception. Photo Credit: rochesterhomepage.net

Asked to speculate about some of them, Dr. Andrew J. DuBrin, Professor Emeritus at the Saunders College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology, candidly shared his thoughts. “The only hope,” he maintains, “is for business to work collaboratively with schools to help students change their social attitudes in a positive direction.

Examples of negative social attitudes held by many students include the belief that (a) physically and verbally abusing others is a valuable form of social interaction, (b) using preposterously poor grammar and articulation makes you part of the in-crowd, (c) revenge should be taken against successful people, and (d) only jerks want to acquire knowledge that will help them advance their career.”

DuBrin, who is a business consultant in addition to being a prolific author, shares the concerns local businesses have regarding the quality of students entering the labor pool. He adds, “Unless these students develop better interpersonal skills and a positive work ethic, they will never be hired by a sensible hiring manager or HR specialist. My take is that many business firms in the Rochester area want to help inner-city students, but they also need to hire young people who will help the enterprise succeed.”

Asked about portable leadership lessons, i.e., those that apply no matter the situation,

DuBrin offers these insights. “A key leadership principle is to work with others to help them develop values that will aid them in the long run. Another key principle would be to listen with empathy to students, and try to understand why so many resist learning and engage in self-defeating behavior to the point that they are destined to career failure and consequently unrewarding personal lives.”

It was George Washington Carver who asserted there is no short cut to achievement. Developing values and a positive work ethic, and changing self-defeating behavior require hard work. But without this work, schools and the students within them will continue to fail.