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<p>We, and other schools around us, also had a larger than normal # of students who received fee waivers. Schools literally ran out of them for the June testing date. The current economy has many more parents in that “poor” category than before, but, for our school, that wouldn’t explain a decrease in the overall score.</p>
<p>The fact that more students don’t care all that much about school/academics compared to their phones, facebook, and other distractions might have a little more to do with it. Why remember vocab words when you can always look them up? Why read when you can be doing something more interesting? In the 12 years that I’ve seen students at our school, apathy has risen considerably. It was always there, of course, but now it’s reached a “higher” level of kids. Couple that with poor preparation overall for the kids who do care and you end up with a below average school. We’re only slightly below. There are many schools just like the one I have experience with.</p>