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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I read the Aug. 8 Hoover Sun article written by Jon Anderson where he reported on the “test score growth” in our Hoover City Schools system.
Mr. Anderson’s headline read, “Hoover students ‘leading the pack’ in test score growth among comparable districts, official says.” In the article itself, Mr. Anderson went on to say, “However, Hoover students still lag behind the neighboring school districts of Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood and Trussville in the percentage of students who are proficient in most of those subjects.”
Mountain Brook has six schools with 4,441 students. Vestavia Hills has eight schools with 6,762 students. Homewood has five schools with 3,907 students, and Trussville has five schools with 5,000 students. Hoover has 17 schools with 13,567 students.
Comparable? Really?
Immediately, I thought about amazing Bluff Park teacher Katie Collins, fantastic Trace Crossings Principal Quincy Collins and wonderful Green Valley Principal Amy Burbank. I thought how deflated this article might have made them feel, along with the hundreds of devoted teachers in our system.
Mr. Anderson missed a great opportunity to congratulate our dedicated teachers and students who worked so hard post pandemic to raise our scores. Mr. Anderson had access to some really incredible facts and statistics he could have written about that highlight the very significant differences in the schools he listed.
First, there’s the exciting fact that Hoover City Schools is one of the largest school systems in the state. (I wrestle with this one – whether it should be singular or plural.) HCS boasts 17 schools serving 13,500+ students. Another important note about Hoover City Schools students and families is that we are extremely diverse with 35 different languages spoken among our 13,000+ students, 8% of which are first-, second-, or third-year English language learners. Lastly, 33% of Hoover students are served free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch through the National School Lunch Program, which is an indicator of poverty level. Educators will tell you those are very difficult statistics to overcome. Not in Hoover! We thrive on the fact that our schools are very diverse in many ways. We believe you can learn, achieve and reach the American dream even with some very difficult hurdles to jump. We believe we can give our students those tools they need. We do! We don’t simply desire high achievement for high-achieving students; we desire growth for all students. Our parents believe in our teachers, and our students believe in our teachers.
The size of our district and the diversity of our students and families is a strength for our school district and creates fantastic educational opportunities for every student that may or may not be measured on a state assessment. The other districts listed in the article vary greatly in size, diversity and poverty, and therefore comparing achievement levels between these districts may not tell the full story of academic progress. Even considering each of these characteristics and their related challenges, Hoover students are continuing to lead the pack in English language arts, math and science growth. With the continued work of the amazing educators in Hoover City Schools, as well as the wonderful support from our community, the future of our school system is as bright as it has ever been!
By the way, I think Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood and Trussville are great school systems, too!
Frank Brocato
Hoover mayor
