Bucks schools score high on group's report card

BUCKS COUNTY

Schools score high on group's report card

DOYLESTOWN The news is mostly good for Bucks County public schools, according to a report released Tuesday by an education advocacy group.

Twelve of 13 districts in Bucks boast above-average graduation rates, the report said. Standardized test scores are similarly high, and several districts have had success closing performance gaps among students from different economic backgrounds.

The Bucks publication is one of four county-centric reports that Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) is releasing this month focusing on the Philadelphia suburbs. PCCY is a Philadelphia-based youth advocacy organization.

There are still areas for improvement in Bucks, the report said, and trends that bear monitoring. The number of students eligible for free or reduced price lunches, for example, rose by 42 percent over the last four years, and access to full-day kindergarten, often cited as a way to boost early-stage learning, is only accessible to 26 percent of Bucks students.

But many of the numbers included are positive, such as a countywide graduation rate of 93 percent. The state average is 83 percent, the report said. - Chris Palmer