We get it.  We played hooky a lot in school – it was so boring and our teachers didn’t appreciate our snark that you love so much.  This passion for Ferguson resulting in school walkouts seems to be incredibly contagious here in Denver.  We don’t doubt that there are five some students who are sincerely passionate about the perceived injustice in the Ferguson grand jury decision, but the others….  Let’s just say that we’re skeptical.

On Wednesday, Denver’s East High School students walked out, a protest that ended with four police officers sent to the hospital, one in critical condition, after a car plowed into them.  Then, on Thursday, three more Denver Public School high school students walked out to protest.  On Friday, the number grew to students from 16 Denver Metro schools.  Today, South High School students walked out.  If these schools were outstanding schools with kids who were set on a path of success, maybe we would feel differently, but these kids need to get their tails back in school.

Let’s take a look at the ACT scores at some of these schools.  The average student admitted to the University of Colorado – Denver (which is fine, but no Harvard) had a composite ACT score of 23.  The average ACT score of the 2014 freshman class at the University of Denver is 28.  The chart below shows the average composite ACT scores of the high schools from which students walked out…because Ferguson.  Scores were taken from the Colorado Department of Education.  Only two of the schools  listed, Smoky Hill and East High Schools, even approach acceptable for admission to UCD.  West High School’s average ACT was an unbelievably low 14.7.  Lincoln High School’s average ACT composite score was worse – 14.3.  Such low average ACT scores only set these kids up for failure down the road.