Gov. Nixon makes stop at Jackson High to commend A+ designation

True, he's a lawyer, not a teacher, but that didn't stop Gov. Jay Nixon from giving Jackson High School high marks Friday afternoon.

The governor made the school Exhibit A in his push to expand Missouri's A+ scholarship program.

"All of us are betting on you, and we think it's a bet we're going to win," Nixon told an assembly of students gathered in the high school auditorium, alongside Jackson School Board members, educators and civic leaders.

The first-term Democrat toured the school, stopping into several classrooms to congratulate students and teachers on Jackson High's designation as an A+ school. Under the program, qualifying Missouri students each can earn a scholarship to cover the cost of tuition and fees at any public two-year community college or technical school in the state.

Jackson High School last year joined the ranks of Cape Girardeau Central High School and some 311 public schools statewide designated as A+ schools, following an extensive, three-year application process. Jackson this year boasts 286 students in the program, 84 on track to graduate in May with a scholarship opportunity. To be eligible, students must graduate with an overall grade point average of 2.5 points or higher on a 4-point scale, have an overall attendance rate of at least 95 percent for grades nine to 12, and perform 50 hours of district-supervised, unpaid tutoring or mentoring.

"Good schools like Jackson don't happen by accident," Nixon said. "When it comes to excellence, the facts speak for themselves."

Nearly 64 percent of Jackson High School graduates go on to some form of post-secondary education, already above the national goal of 60 percent, Nixon said. Those numbers are driven, administrators say, by Jackson's 91.6 percent graduation rate, well above the state average.

"This is a thriving, innovative and successful school," Nixon said.

"And we do it for $2,532 less per student than the state average," said assistant superintendent Rita Fisher, noting the expenditures per average daily attendance. Spending per student in Jackson, including state aid, amounted to $7,219 last year, compared to the statewide average of $9,751, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Fisher said Jackson's A+ program has brought broader benefits than scholarships to students. Many have earned tutoring hours working with first-graders in a reading program that has proved successful, the administrator said.

"By giving up a period of their very busy day, they travel to an elementary building and help our struggling first-grade readers," she said, adding that the young learners have made average reading gains of 1.64 grade levels.

Nixon used the platform to make a pitch for legislation that would expand the program, offering scholarships to "high-achieving" students who attend high schools not designated A+ schools. Under the bill, families of qualifying students must have a maximum adjusted annual gross income of about $55,000. Nixon's fiscal year 2012 budget includes $1 million to fund the expansion, which would provide scholarships for more than 700 additional students.

"It's simply not fair to penalize high-achieving students because their school hasn't earned the A+ designation," Nixon said in a press statement.

Funding for the A+ program topped $25.33 million in fiscal year 2010, according to Ingrid Caldwell, supervisor for the DESE-run initiative. Missouri's 2010 graduating class included 18,096 A+ graduates.

While the bill to expand the program is in its opening stages in the Missouri House, Nixon sounds confident the measure will make it to his desk. The governor says the success of A+ bodes well for the state's economic future.

"We think this is the smart investment for us, to make sure the expectation for these young students is to not only get their high school degree but to continue to get an education so that we can have a strong work force and attract more jobs in the future," Nixon said.

mkittle@semissourian.com

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