The survey the county conducted last year and released this fall revealed many things which were not released to the public. Approximately 13% of K-3 parents preferred an alternate program based on a traditional text. More than 1/3 of K – 3 parents were dissatisfied with the Investigations based program. The percentage dissatisfied with the program increased each year and by grade 3 almost 50% of parents believed the program failed to meet their children’s needs.

Even more telling was the teachers view of the program. Almost 2/3 of grade 3 teachers believed that the program failed to meet their students needs.

And thn there’s the test results. SOL scores were stagnant in pass rates and dropped slightly relative to the state in students achieving an advanced score. Many schools saw both their pass and advanced rates for math and reading drop sharply (Cedar Point, Bristow Run, Victory, and Nokesville are among the western PWC schools which saw significant drops). SDMT results put us at average for the nation.

Not exactly a rip roaring success, and in some places an unmitigated failure.

So what’s the school system to do? They’ve got a bunch of parents and teachers who have no faith in the program but an equally large bunch of parents and teachers, backed by the school administration, who do have faith in the program.

Dual tracks, with parents choosing which track their child will follow, seems to me to be the only viable solution.

And here’s the best part. The old textbooks – the ones that Investigations replaced – are still available. The county could pull them out of storage and use them and it wouldn’t cost a thing. In fact, because Investigations materials have to be purchased for every grade 5 classroom at a cost of about $1000 per classroom and annual student workbooks have to be purchased for every student at a cost of $17 per student for over 33,000 students, the county would actually save money by offering an alternate track because no materials would have to be purchased for students enrolled in the alternate track.

Is using the old textbooks ideal? No. Absolutely not. There are lots of state approved texts that I’d prefer over the old books. But in my opinion the old books are better than Investigations and using them is the only feasible option considering the budgetary constraints the schools are under.

School administration isn’t going to implement dual tracks unless the school board orders them to. They’ve delivered a program they believe is effective, no matter what parents say. The only way dual tracks will be implemented is if the school board directs the school administration to do so.

The decision whether to support parental choice or not is all on them.