By David Magee

Give me public schools in affluent neighborhoods in any city where children have the luxury of books, balanced meals, and constant needs nourishment at early ages, and I’m willing to bet that more times than not those schools will score high on state assessment tests.

Hamilton County had many schools do just that in the state’s recently released report card for schools.

But give me public schools in neighborhoods where larger societal issues of unemployment and underemployment are taking a toll, and I’m willing to bet that more times than not those schools will be facing unsatisfactory report-card results, particularly in light of the economic recession of 2009.

Hamilton County had some schools fall into that very category.

As a result, the overall scorecard is a disappointment. More can and should be done. The solution, though, is not as simple as teachers and administrators working harder and demanding better results. The solution also begins before children arrive in public schools for kindergarten. More and better jobs yield more students better prepared for school. Schools can’t fix that. Nor can they have much of an impact on parental involvement.

Thus, pointing fingers at a school system or administrators for a subpar report card often is short-sighted. The entire community owns its schools and is responsible for how they are educating our children.

E-mail David Magee at dmagee@timesfreepress.com.