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Team Effort Needed At All Schools

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By JOE BROWN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2008

Years ago, when I was looking to buy home here, I noticed something about Plant High School that stood out in the Tribune's real estate section: Sellers would list the fact that the house they had on the market was in Plant's district.

I'll bet many of the listings in the south Tampa section of today's Homeseeker section mention this, along with the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and square feet. No other high school in Hillsborough County is so mentioned.

So I wasn't surprised when former Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy sought to enroll his son, Eric, at Plant, citing the school's academics as the primary reason. A former co-worker whose daughters graduated from Plant moved into the district for the same privilege.

"We applied for a special exception and were denied, so I sold my house and moved into the district," she told me the other day. "Plant has an exceptional academic reputation. That's why we wanted to go there."

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Dungy's son got accepted, and most of the discussion revolved around the fairness of the school district's special-assignment policy. The real question we should all be asking, however, is what makes Plant a "good school" in so many parents' view?

What Defines A 'Good School'?

I often wonder what people think makes a "good school." High SAT scores? Small class sizes? A nice school building? Higher-paid teachers? Low dropout rates? Safety?

While Plant has most of these things going for it, I don't think they are the main factors for its popularity. Beside my co-worker, I've talked to many other Plant parents and concluded it boils down to two things: high expectations and parental involvement.

Like the New York Yankees, students at Plant are expected to excel every year. The "management" - school administrators and parents - expects it, and the "players" perform accordingly. Although the parents don't attend the classes, their presence is still there. When there are school events, mom and/or dad show up and give visible support for whatever activity their kids are involved in. Parents also take time to call teachers and check on their kids' progress.

In other words, it's a team effort where the classroom is an extension of the living room, and vice versa.

It's Not All About Money

Granted, the Plant district is comprised mostly of middle- and upper-class homes, but that shouldn't matter. Families don't have to earn lots of money to supplement a child's education at home. All they need is time.

Even if you don't have a college degree or didn't finish high school, you can still read to your child every day and take him to libraries and museums. You can correct mispronounced words. You can demand that he read more instead of watching hours of television. If he's at the homework stage, you can check it every night and make sure it's done. You can stay in touch with teachers.

So while we often hear that we need to spend more money on schools to improve them, money can't replace a family structure that isn't there.

Because of its reputation, Plant will continue to be listed in real estate ads and the recipient of numerous special-assignment requests. The goal of our community should be to make every school worthy of such a denotation. It can happen if, as Dungy might say, everyone starts performing as a team.

Joseph H. Brown is a Tribune editorial writer.

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