MADISON-ST. CLAIR – Most students in public schools of Madison and St. Clair counties failed to meet basic standards as of 2019, according to a survey of all Illinois school districts released by Wirepoints research group in Chicago.
The Wall Street Journal last week opined on the Wirepoints report, "Illinois's Shocking Report Card," leading with: "No one thought Illinois schools were a shining beacon in the education landscape, but we didn’t know how truly awful so many of them are."
Here are some local stats:
The analysis shows that at 17 of 20 local high schools, fewer than half the students who tested for reading and mathematics met or exceeded standards.
In East St. Louis, 2% met or exceeded standards in mathematics and 5% met or exceeded standards in reading.
Granite City reported 18% on reading and 15% on math.
Collinsville reported 29% on reading and 22% on math.
Alton reported 29% on reading and 30% on math.
Belleville reported 31% on reading and 30% on math.
Edwardsville reported 49.8% on reading and 49% on math.
High schools where majorities met or exceeded standards didn’t do it by much.
O’Fallon reported 55% in math and 53% in reading.
Mascoutah reported 54% in math and 53% in reading.
Freeburg reported 54% in math and 51% in reading.
Students at 13 high schools graduated at rates below 90%.
About a third of potential graduates in Brooklyn and Cahokia didn’t make it.
East St. Louis and Granite City lost almost 30%.
Alton lost 14% and Collinsville lost 12%.
O’Fallon lost 10%, Belleville 9%, and Edwardsville 7%.
Marissa and Mascoutah posted the best records, losing only 4%.
Data for 36 districts that operate elementary schools showed similar weakness.
Most eighth graders fell below math standards in 29 districts and most fell below language standards in 26 districts.
In Cahokia 3% of eighth graders met or exceeded math standards and 7% met or exceeded language standards.
East St. Louis reported 10% on language and 5% on math.
Granite City reported 19% on language and 7% on math.
Alton reported 28% on language and 18% on math.
Collinsville reported 29% on reading and 18% on math.
Belleville reported 49% on language and 25% on math.
Edwardsville reported 54% on math and 45% on language.
O’Fallon reported 56% on language and 51% on math.
Mascoutah reported 66% on math and 54% on language.
Small elementary school districts produced the best results.
Millstadt reported 76% on language and 63% on math.
Wolf Branch in Swansea reported 70% on language and 62% on math.
Freeburg reported 64% on language and 58% on reading.
For seventh grade, no district achieved 50% in math and all but seven fell below language standards.
In Cahokia 4% met or exceeded standards in language and 3% met or exceeded standards in math.
East St. Louis reported 2% met or exceeded math standards and 19% met or exceeded language standards.
Granite City reported 18% on language and 10% on math.
Collinsville reported 24% on language and 14% on math.
Alton reported 28% on language and 19% on math.
Belleville reported 49% on language and 21% on math.
Edwardsville reported 45% on language and 42% on math.
O’Fallon reported 64% on language and 49% on math.
Millstadt reported 92% on language and 46% on math.
Smithton reported 84% on language and 40% on math.
Sixth graders fell below math standards everywhere and below language standards in all but three districts.
In Cahokia 2% met or exceeded language standards and 1% met or exceeded math standards.
East St. Louis reported 9% on language and 4% on math.
Granite City reported 16% on language and 9% on math.
Alton reported 17% on language and 15% on math.
Collinsville reported 21% on language and 13% on math.
Belleville reported 26% on language and 12% on math.
Edwardsville reported 46% on both.
Freeburg led in language at 72% and Smithton led in math at 49%.
Fifth graders fell below math standards in all but four districts and below language standards in all but nine.
In Cahokia 5% met or exceeded language standards and 1% met or exceeded math standards.
East St. Louis reported 15% on language and 8% on math.
Granite City reported 19% on language and 12% on math.
Alton reported 23% on language and 19% on math.
Collinsville reported 29% on language and 24% on math.
Belleville reported 42% on language and 24% on math.
Edwardsville reported 57% in language and 54% in math.
Smithton led in language at 79% and Wolf Branch led in math at 67%.
Fourth graders fell below math standards in all but six districts and below language standards in all but seven.
In Cahokia 6% met or exceeded language standards and 2% met or exceeded math standards.
East St. Louis reported 15% on language and 14% on math.
Granite City reported 22% on language and 18% on math.
Alton reported 25% on math and 20% on language.
Collinsville reported 33% on language and 27% on math.
Belleville reported 37% on language and 27% on math.
Edwardsville reported 60% on language and 54% on math.
Mascoutah led in language at 66% and Smithton led in math at 76%.
Third graders fell below math standards in all but 10 districts and below language standards in all but five.
In Cahokia 8% met or exceeded standards in math and 5% met or exceeded standards in language.
East St. Louis reported 21% on math and 16% on language.
Granite City reported 22% on math and 15% on language.
Alton reported 29% on math and 17% on language.
Belleville reported 34% on math and 30% on language.
Collinsville reported 37% on math and 30% on language.
Edwardsville reported 72% on language and 62% on math.
New Athens led in math at 82% and language at 78%.
Despite evidence of failure, 24 districts reported 100 percent excellence or proficiency among teachers.
Districts that didn’t claim perfection pegged the rate above 95 percent.
Wirepoint’s financial data shows little correlation between spending and learning.
Cahokia, with the weakest record among big districts, spent $16,322 per pupil.
East St. Louis, barely better than Cahokia, spent $18,106 per pupil.
Madison, which spent $20,120 per pupil, reported more than 90 percent below both standards in most grades and more than 80 percent in all grades.
Venice spent $28,292 per pupil and 93 percent fell below standards, according to its separate report showing performance overall rather than by grade.
Brooklyn spent $16,856 per pupil and reported the lowest graduation rate.
Roxana spent $13,521 per pupil and more than 60 percent fell below standards for both categories in every grade.
Edwardsville reported better results than other big districts while spending $9,275 per pupil, the least among districts with elementary and high schools.
Mascoutah spent a modest $10,764 per pupil and did better than Edwardsville.
O’Fallon high school spent $11,810 per pupil and reported better results than Belleville high school, which spent $13,974 per pupil.
Belleville elementary district spent $12,576 per pupil, the most among elementary districts, but most of its students fell short of standards.
Smithton spent $8,363 per pupil, the least among elementary districts, and ranked first among the 40 districts in meeting and exceeding standards.
Roxana teachers led in average salary at $72,160.
In Belleville high school teachers averaged $71,256 and elementary school teachers averaged $67,575.
Teachers in Granite City, East St. Louis, and Cahokia averaged more than $60,000.
So did teachers in O’Fallon, Freeburg, and East Alton-Wood River high schools.
So did elementary teachers in Freeburg and the Whiteside district in Belleville.
Teachers in eight districts averaged $45,000 to $50,000, and those in St. Libory’s tiny elementary district averaged $36,374.
"We aren’t often speechless, but the extent to which that performance is betraying a generation of schoolchildren is hard to put into words," the Wall Street Journal opined.