PA Schools Aren’t Reaching Proficiency Levels

Study shows 72 percent of schools in state have a problem.

Turns out Philadelphia public schools may not be uniquely bad. Newsworks reports that many more schools across the state are falling short of standards. The report was done by Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia.

Schools not meeting the state’s proficiency target are situated in 72 percent of Pennsylvania’s school districts, or 357 out of 499, the report said.

“This is a widespread problem,” said Michael Churchill, PILCOP executive director. “I think there’s a popular image that a few distressed school districts are having these problems, and that, generally, the state is doing well, but that is not what this data shows.”

State standards require 70 percent of a school’s students to be proficient in reading and literature, and 73 percent to be proficient in math and science.