Why Rochester students are leaving Rochester schools

By Rachel Hammer
rachel@olmstedcountyjournal.com

Mon, Oct 1st, 2012
Posted in Rochester Education

Comments(2)

It’s not because the education isn’t good, said Decision Resources Ltd. education analyst Dr. Morris, who was hired to conduct a study to examine the reasons why students in the Rochester School District have chosen to send their students to other public school districts like Byron, Dover-Eyota, or Stewartville through open enrollment; it’s because they perceive the classroom sizes in Rochester are too big.

Morris’ study phone interviewed a random sample of 272 Rochester families who have chosen to enroll their children out of district. The semi-structured interview questionnaire examined the variables that governed the parents’ decision-making. Three-quarters of open enrolling families had made their decision by kindergarten. Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE, locally, Parents Are Important In Rochester, PAIIR), then, is an important factor determining whether families choose to keep their children in Rochester Public Schools.

When asked why they chose to open enroll elsewhere, there were three strong responses, parents want: 1) lower class sizes, 2) smaller schools, and 3) closer personal attention by the teacher.

Furthermore, interviewed parents emphasized that they would like to see better character development and attention to student behavior, all-day every day kindergarten, increased STEM education and opportunities, and less ethnic diversity if they were to consider returning to Rochester Public Schools.

The response regarding wanting less ethnic diversity was an unexpected finding from the study, probed further by Board Member Breanna Bly who wanted to know more about the demographics comprising the random sample. 97 percent white, 35 percent with average annual income over $100k.

Superintendent Muñoz contested the open enrolling parents’ chief complaint. “When I look at class sizes in districts nearby, there are a couple of grade levels in which we are little high compared to other districts, but in kindergarten, first, and second grade, we are right in the mix.”

Muñoz said the district tries to hold kindergarten class size to around 20 and first grade to 24. He suggested that people’s perceptions of class size in Rochester may be inaccurate, or based on hearsay.

Indeed, Dr. Morris’ study confirmed that neighbors and friends were the major sources of information parents use to make their decision. Not media, not websites, not study statistics.

“We just have to do a better job of getting the word out and correcting some of these perceptions that we have,” Muñoz concluded.

Dr. Jackie Silver noted that the district Kindergarten Open House will be Nov. 8. Parents shopping for school districts are welcome to attend with their questions.

Comments:

437

9:13:08, Oct 8th 2012

awarthurhu says:

"..and less ethnic diversity if they were to consider returning to Rochester Public Schools. The response regarding wanting less ethnic diversity was an unexpected finding from the study, probed further by Board Member Breanna Bly who wanted to know more about the demographics comprising the random sample. 97 percent white, 35 percent with average annual income over $100k. " Wow that's interesting (from professional Asian American moved in from Seattle) All of the high schools are still over 70% white, probably over 75% if you're counting Asians as non-troubled-minorities.
That sounds a lot like what they used to call white flight from a sample that's 97% white, the most visible nonwhite populations that would be a concern would be Somalis, and perhaps Hispanics, though even they seem to congregate in above-average well kept apartment complexes. In California even affluent Asians have an effect on pushing whites elsewhere in enclaves like Cupertino. I might cover this in an Asianweek.com column sometime. Of the three public schools, John Marshall would be the most "diverse" and closest to the state average, Mayo better than average, and Century has the highest scores and seems to be the choice of many Asians.

440

6:02:41, Oct 10th 2012

Numbers says:

I have always thought that the open enrollment system was very odd and counter productive. Instead of investing in improving schools, families who may expect more of the school system can send their students else where. It also give scared families an excuse to be in "more white" schools.