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Report: Delco sees rise in low-income students

DELAWARE COUNTY With a lower median income and denser pockets of poverty than in neighboring communities, Delaware County is struggling to educate its students, according to a report from an education advocacy group.

DELAWARE COUNTY With a lower median income and denser pockets of poverty than in neighboring communities, Delaware County is struggling to educate its students, according to a report from an education advocacy group.

Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) on Monday released "The Bottom Line Is Children: Public Education in Delaware County," examining the state of education for nearly 70,000 students in 15 school districts.

While the county's overall economic health is strong, the rising number of low-income residents poses new economic and educational challenges for the county, the report said.

"It's a high-performing county compared to the rest of the state. But are they going to remain at the top of the state given the county's weakening economic position?" said Donna Cooper, PCCY's executive director.

The number of Delaware County students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch has grown from 20,000 in 2008 to more than 23,500 in 2012, an 18 percent increase, according to the report.

The Upper Darby School District has the largest number of students who qualify - nearly 6,800, a 30 percent increase since 2008. Eligibility more than doubled in Marple Newtown and jumped 78 percent in Springfield.

The only two districts where the number of eligible students declined were Chester Upland, which experienced a 33 percent drop in enrollment between 2008 and 2012, and Southeast Delco, where enrollment contracted slightly.

Though one-third of districts offer full-day kindergarten, which some studies have correlated with greater lifetime success, more progress needs to be made, the group said.

About 1,600 of the county's 4,700 kindergartners attended full-day classes. The Wallingford-Swarthmore, Springfield, and Garnet Valley districts do not offer full-day kindergarten, and 10 more districts enroll fewer than 10 kindergarten-age children.

The county lags its neighbors in high school graduation rate. While its 86 percent rate is higher than the state average of 83 percent, it is the lowest of the four Philadelphia suburban counties.

Four districts fall below the state and county averages: Chester Upland, William Penn, Chichester, and Southeast Delco.

In another measure of achievement, the annual Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), Delaware County boasts some of the highest-performing districts in the state - including Radnor, Wallingford-Swarthmore, Garnet Valley, and Rose Tree Media - but it still had the lowest PSSA average of the four suburban counties.

Nearly a quarter of the county's students were below grade level in reading and a quarter in math.

The group said that between 17,000 and 18,000 students need more support to graduate and be prepared for a job or college.

It is no surprise that students are struggling in Chester Upland and William Penn, which had the highest concentrations of low-income students. But even wealthy districts find it hard to educate low-income students, according to the report.

In Radnor, 90 percent of students score at grade level or above. Yet low-income students score 30 percentage points below the district's average.

Among black students, the county's wealthiest districts all have achievement gaps of 20 percentage points or more.

"Delaware County residents need to say, 'What would it take for every school district to help all 17,000 [underperforming] students?' " Cooper said.

The PCCY urged expanding preschool, full-day kindergarten, and tutoring, and, with every district receiving less aid this year than in 2010, urged the state to change the way it distributes money.

The disparity in per-pupil spending among districts was large: Radnor spent the most, at $12,683, while Upper Darby spent $7,742 per student.