The news is mostly good for Bucks County public schools, according to a report released Tuesday by an education advocacy group.

Twelve of 13 districts in Bucks boast above-average graduation rates, the report said. Standardized test scores are similarly high, and several districts have had success closing performance gaps between students from different economic backgrounds.

“Right now, Bucks County school districts are doing great,” said Donna Cooper, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), the group that released the report.

The Bucks publication is one of four county-centric reports that PCCY will release this month focusing on the Philadelphia suburbs. PCCY is a Philadelphia-based youth advocacy organization.

There are still areas for improvement in Bucks, Cooper said, and trends that bear monitoring. The number of students eligible for free or reduced price lunches, for example, rose by 42 percent over the last four years, she said, and access to full-day kindergarten, often cited as a way to boost early-stage learning, is only accessible to 26 percent of Bucks students. In Montgomery County that number is higher than 50 percent, Cooper said.

In addition, like many counties around the state, Bucks districts are dealing with a decrease in state funding after 2011 cuts, and 11 of 13 districts have raised property taxes within the last three years, according to the report.

But many of the numbers included are positive, such as a county-wide graduation rate of 93 percent – the state average is 83 percent, the report said – and having more than 80 percent of students score advanced or proficient on state assessment tests, also above the state average, according to the report.

“There’s an awful lot” that Bucks districts can be proud of, Cooper said.

The Philadelphia Inquirer – November 19, 2013 – Read article online