Economic disparity in Northwest Indiana mirrored in ISTEP scores

A look at the map would show that Munster High School is less than nine miles from Schererville's Campagna Academy.

Academically, those miles all seem vertical.

Almost nine in 10 Munster students passed the ISTEP language and mathematics tests in the 2004-05 school year, while at Campagna fewer than 1 in 10 students achieved the same goal.

Similar ISTEP disparities cut across Northwest Indiana.

Students at Lowell, Porter County townships, Valparaiso, Chesterton, Crown Point and Hanover Central schools pass the mandatory standardized tests with flying colors. Whites in these suburban schools constitute 77 percent or more of the enrollment.

Students in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago -- where blacks and Hispanics are the majority -- struggle to make the grade.

Frank Kwasny, director of instructional services for East Chicago schools, said the explanation is more than skin deep.

"It's not a question of underperformance by minority students. It is the direct correlation between poor achievement and poverty," he said.

State education records indicate 89 percent of Hammond's public students, 93 percent of East Chicago's enrollment and more than 97 percent of Gary's students come from homes so poor they are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches.

"Half of our enrollment comes from single-parent families. Munster's per capita income level is two or two and a half times ours," Kwasny said.

Merrillville Superintendent Tony Lux said, "Parents who work more than one job because of financial necessity aren't home to assist their children. A higher percentage of students have a deficit in basic skills before they start school."

Bruce Hillman, chief executive officer for Campagna, said his students start from even farther back in the pack.

"We have a high rate of at-risk students who have been suspended or expelled. A number of students are residents on campus who have been adjudicated here by the juvenile court."

Hillman said experts believe some allowances must be made for cultural differences existing in black and Hispanic home life. Lux said ISTEP scores reflect the reality that once students get behind it's difficult for them to catch up.

"This is why we are a large advocate of full-day kindergarten, especially for those at-risk students whose families cannot afford day care," Lux said.

"We do our best to provide additional time in schools with summer school programs. Those who have learned the standards receive enrichment classes. Those who haven't we reteach and hope they get it the second time around," Lux said.

Kwasny said, "We can put programs in place, but our state funding doesn't take this into effect. If the Legislature would address this, we could attack the economic disparity."

Mary Jane Michalak, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Education, said the three cities do get additional federal and state money to remediate the disadvantages of students from low-income families.

She said the state gives Gary and East Chicago more than $7,400 to spend on each student, while Crown Point and Valparaiso receive less than $5,000 per student in state aid.