Beth Ann Rosica: National policy debates create issues for local school districts

As the debate roils over national immigration, there is notably little discussion about the scarcity of resources to support the millions of adults and children who entered the country over the last five years.

Communities in Pennsylvania, specifically in the southeast, have been significantly impacted by the number of migrants who came to the United States. The large influx of non-English speaking students has created consequential issues for local school districts — some more than others.

I’ve written extensively about the myriad of problems in our public schools, including a few commonsense solutions that would likely help all students. Yet different school districts face unique challenges, and there are currently no conversations taking into account the policies that created the problems.

For example, Upper Darby School District in Delaware County is dealing with considerable issues related to the characteristics of their student body, including a highly transient population who are not English speakers.

The district serves students from Upper Darby Township, Clifton Heights Borough, and Millbourne Borough. Upper Darby Township is the sixth largest municipality in the state and covers 7.9 square miles — the vast majority of the students come from this area which has historically been known as a resettlement region.

According to the township from the 2020 census, “Upper Darby celebrates its diversity and is proud of the 23.5 percent of residents who are foreign born and the 25.9 percent of households where a language other than English is spoken.”

In an interview with Broad + Liberty, Upper Darby Superintendent Daniel McGarry confirmed that the area around 69th Street has historically been a resettlement area for immigrants from many different countries, including Greece, Vietnam, Liberia, and Haiti. “[We] also see a lot of families from surrounding districts looking for the best educational opportunities they can find for their children,” he said. “It all has to do with limited resources and where Upper Darby is literally located geographically.”

“Additionally, the district has an ever-changing number of students who are displaced from their homes/homeless, living in multiple occupancy, or living in foster care,” said the superintendent. “As an example, the District has over 1,000 families living in multiple occupancy situations and/or under a support affidavit. The district provides support to these students in compliance with its policies and the McKinney Vento [Homeless Assistance] Act.”

The diverse community also creates a transient student population. According to McGarry, 39 to 45 percent of the students are transient every year, meaning that the percentage of students who leave the district are replaced by new students. In the high school, there are typically 450 new students every year, replacing the same number who left.

“The District has always historically been known for its diversity and for having the world in one place. As a result, the District has always embraced and celebrated the beauty of its diversity,” McGarry continued. “While the diversity in the District is certainly a strength, the significant influx of students from other countries does create operational and instructional challenges; especially for an underfunded district. There are also challenges related to staffing. The district does a tremendous amount of good with limited resources. The District does demonstrate positive academic gains when students are less transient as demonstrated by the presentation in December.”

The 2024 board presentation shows 991 students started first grade in the 2012-13 school year, yet by twelfth grade, only 399 of those students remained in the district. Over the same time period, the district enrolled 1,375 new students for a total of 2,366 unique students just for that original first grade class.

Related to the transitory students and an equally challenging issue is the number of non-English speaking students. McGarry reports there are 90 different languages spoken by students and their families. The district’s English Learners (EL) program continues to skyrocket.

The chart below from the 2022 board presentation highlights not only the increase in EL students, but their level of need. EL students are assessed upon entering the district and ranked according to the amount of instruction and support they will need. Levels 1 and 2 are the lowest in terms of proficiency, and the highest levels in terms of need, meaning more students need greater amounts of help and instruction.

In 2022, the district served over 1,400 EL students, more than half of whom were ranked as Level 1 and 2. Additionally, the parents of these students do not speak or read English, creating further challenges for the district.

Fast forward to the current school year, and the number of EL students jumped dramatically to 2,294, resulting in a 37 percent increase in just two years.

By law, districts cannot use special education funds to support EL students.

“Special education has never been fully funded, and Title III funding is specific to students who are EL students,” said McGarry. “Title III funding helps cover after-school tutoring, testing for non-District (not in public schools in the community) students, as well support for non-District students, adult EL courses/supplies, and some professional development for District EL teachers.”

With students from all over the world, including large growth in Middle Eastern, African, and Hispanic students, the district is challenged with not only meeting the needs of all students but also what the superintendent describes as “unfunded mandates.”

“The transient student population and increasing number of EL students continues to present staffing challenges, shortage of classroom space, and increased budgetary needs,” said McGarry. “Students who are special education students require specific and direct instruction sometimes by a special education teacher. EL students, depending on the level, also require specific and direct instruction from a certified EL instructor. These are mandates that the District must follow. The district’s EL program continues to increase.”

When asked if he could wave a magic wand to miraculously fix the problems facing the district, McGarry had a few ideas.

“While I know there is no magic wand, I believe it is not fair to pit one school district against another when all of our challenges are unique to our communities and the students we serve,” said the superintendent. “As an example, we are not against being held accountable, but using the same state assessment and comparing one district to another when they are nothing alike is somewhat misleading and unfair. This also perpetuates transiency because as I said earlier, families will also attempt to find an educational opportunity that they see as better than their current one. There are too many unfunded mandates, and state testing is certainly one example. This mandate does not portray the real complications Districts like Upper Darby face.”

EL students are required to participate in state testing with some exceptions and/or accommodations. All EL students must take the math and science testing with appropriate accommodations, regardless of their enrollment date; and EL students must take the English Language Arts tests after one year of enrollment in a public school.

He further cited requirements for staff to “push paperwork, taking away from direct instruction to students as a result of the unfunded mandates. There continues to be new ways to collect information and data on students, and this data collection takes resources away from our classrooms and students.”

McGarry also wants to raise the standards for teacher preparation programs and subsequently increase the compensation for teachers. Currently Upper Darby employs 50 teachers with emergency certification which means they do not yet have a state certification or license, nor have they received the same training as certified teachers.

“It takes a highly trained teacher to get a first grader to read, and it takes specific training and resources to help an EL student reach proficiency. It is even more challenging when our EL students do not have the ability to read and/or write in their native language,” said the superintendent. “These students need more direct instruction.”

McGarry’s suggestions are remarkably consistent with some of my recommendations, including more direct teaching staff, reduced bureaucracy, and better teacher preparation programs; although I believe funding could be reallocated, rather than increased, to achieve the objectives.

The fact remains that Upper Darby is dealing with very specific problems that most other school districts are not — many of which are a direct result of policies outside of their control. Therefore, innovative solutions, targeted at their issues, are needed.

Perhaps the state and a research institution could collaborate with the district to design a pilot program where resources are reallocated away from unfunded mandates and programs that are not working and into direct teaching positions. Researchers could study the effects of the changes to determine their effectiveness or lack thereof, and then make recommendations about which programs and services to continue and which to terminate based on the evidence.

Additionally, the state should form a committee to take a hard look at university teacher preparation programs. Clearly, these programs are not adequately preparing teachers to enter the classroom. Degree requirements should include primarily pedagogical coursework (the method and practice of teaching) and eliminate unnecessary courses.

Upper Darby School District has a set of unique variables that require innovation and cutting-edge solutions, and they do not have to cost significantly more money. If the state is serious about addressing this crisis, the time has come to scrap failed initiatives and attempt bold solutions to help all of our students, but especially those who continue to fall further and further behind.

Beth Ann Rosica resides in West Chester, has a Ph.D. in Education, and has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of at-risk children and families. She covers education issues for Broad + Liberty. Contact her at barosica@broadandliberty.com.