Book Asks How Bad Schools Happen to Good Suburbs

Armed with evidence that "nice" neighborhoods do not guarantee good public schools, a new book suggests that America's suburbs import policies usually associated with inner cities — such as charter schools, public school choice, and private school vouchers — in order to improve performance.

"It's not just an inner-city problem," a co-author of the book, Vicki Murray, said. "These are schools that are not in bad areas, these are schools where the parents are educated."

To write their book, "Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice," Ms. Murray and two other researchers at the San Franciscobased Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy studied California public schools. They singled out schools that met three criteria: Less than a third of students received a free or reduced price lunch; less than a third were designated as socio-economically disadvantaged, and 50% or more of students did not demonstrate proficiency on California's math and reading tests.

"We were expecting a handful, but instead we found hundreds," Ms. Murray said.

The researchers' book includes a packet, called the "Upscale Home Guide: Buyer Beware," that lists the California neighborhoods that met their criteria, including Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and Saratoga in Silicon Valley, which Forbes ranks as the 42nd most expensive ZIP code in America. At one Saratoga high school, the packet says, 12% of students taking an Algebra 1 exam passed. At Laguna Beach High School, 19% of students passed a "college-ready" test of English. Ms. Murray said the findings reflect a national trend.

Giving parents more choice about where their children go to school would improve the situation, the book argues.

"All options should be on the table to parents," Ms. Murray said.