Students at the Maggie Walker Governor's School earn top scores on the SATs. Although Maggie Walker includes scholars from throughout Central Virginia, Richmond Public Schools reports the school's scores among scores for the city's public high schools.
Del. Joe Morrissey complains that the Maggie Walker scores inflate the system's overall SAT numbers. Richmond does not necessarily deserve credit for the school's performance on tests taken by many college-bound students, critics say.
Richmond may not be alone. Fairfax County boasts one of the state's most acclaimed school systems. It enjoys a reputation for progressive education. The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology has won recognition similar to that enjoyed by Maggie Walker. Located in Fairfax, Thomas Jefferson accepts students from other districts in the region. It, too, is a governor's school.
In a table reporting SAT scores, the website for the Fairfax schools lists Thomas Jefferson among the county's regular high schools. Thomas Jefferson's numbers lead Fairfax's, just as Maggie Walker's numbers lead Richmond's.
Richmond, Fairfax and other systems report SAT results for individual high schools. Parents can learn the scores for the schools their children will attend. Transparency allows the community as a whole a glimpse of standards not only at specific institutions but at systems generally.
The various governor's schools deserve the greatest credit for their performances. Shares go to the participating jurisdictions as well. If SAT scores for a governor's school should not be reported by the systems in which the schools are located (and a good case can be made that they should not be), then Richmond may not be the only offender. Academic data from the governor's schools probably should not be accorded to their host divisions, but nothing sinister has been intended. Richmond's abiding challenge is to increase SAT scores across the board.
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