Those issues, says retiring Mid-Del Superintendent Bill Scoggan, are politically charged and easy targets for critics of the public education system.

As legislators and charter school advocates urge reforms in those areas, the single most important public education issue is being ignored. In fact, it’s seldom discussed, Scoggan said.

“The problem with public education is no matter who is in power, there is that same elephant in the room and that’s poverty. That’s the No. 1 issue in public education,” Scoggan said. “It’s the one no one wants to talk about.”

Scoggan has worked in inner-city districts and in some of the wealthiest districts, and he’s experienced life in suburban and rural school districts. At the Feb. 14 meeting, he announced his impending retirement, which will begin June 30.

“I’m convinced the six hours a day that kids are in school, they get pretty much the same service regardless of who they are,” he said. “It’s the 18 hours outside of school and the 24 hours a day we’re not in school that’s the problem.”

Children are in school 12 percent of the year, but it’s the remaining 88 percent of the year that creates and perpetuates the poverty cycle, he said.

“There are kids who have three healthy meals a day all year long. These same kids have appropriate clothing and they go home to a house where they have appropriate heating and air conditioning,” he said. “They go home to a place that’s peaceful and a safe place to study. They have their own bedroom, preventive health care and dental care.”

THE FLIP SIDE

Then, there’s the other side of the story.

A February 2010 report released by the state Department of Education shows the poverty rate among Oklahoma schoolage children was at 58.8 percent, up more than 2 percent from the previous year.

Additionally, the 2009-10 lowincome report indicates 332,000 or 49.1 percent of all public school students in Oklahoma are eligible to receive free school meals.

On a local level, 16 of Mid-Del’s 17 elementary schools qualify for federal Title I funds because of the number of students who are eligible for free-and reduced-meal programs. At least 40 percent of students must enroll in the program for an entire school to qualify for the funding. More than $7 billion in Title I funds are given to U.S. school systems each year to benefit students who are at risk of failure or living in poverty.

“If schools are going to be the center of the community, then please provide funds for us. Fund schools so schools can give kids three meals a day instead of two and have enough money to give kids proper dental and health care,” he said. “If need be, we can give them appropriate clothes to wear. We know what to do in schools and we must have a way to expand our influence.”

tfarley@eastword.net