It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Louisiana’s public education system is less than stellar in many districts across the state. We have yet another example of why this is. There is a potential trend forming in Louisiana that is pretty simple – if you aren’t up to par, ride on those that are. In now three school districts in Louisiana the test scores of high performing students are being used for accountability purposes as a way to defraud the system.
The situation is this: schools in these districts (Jefferson, Iberville and now East Baton Rouge) can “re-route” test scores from higher performing magnet schools to the lower performing district schools that those magnet students would have attended in their area. It is flat out cheating to use testing scores of a student who does not attend that school to raise overall performances. Why should these schools get credit for job NOT done? These children are being educated at magnet schools because they may be more advanced - but the district schools get to use their achievements to raise their performance levels.
The purpose of having an accountability system is to monitor performance of schools and students and ensure that these schools are providing a quality education as well as making adequate improvements. The action by these school districts is making a mockery of our accountability system and this should be stopped immediately. It is not right that a school that is low performing could detour around possible penalties or even receive rewards for progress not really made.
They need to not only end this unfair practice but also prevent it from occurring anywhere else. What’s next? Are we going to start using scores for students who aren’t in the public system at all, such as private school students and home schoolers?
The Department of Education needs to step in immediately and end this practice once and for all. Our public schools can never truly improve if we are refusing to acknowledge the reality of the situation. Parents deserve to know exactly what is going on in these public schools that their children are attending. This is not accountability – this is fraud.
LAC says, “Reform the Status Quo.”
The Louisiana Department of Education released a statement this week praising itself for improvements in summer LEAP testing results. They indicated that following the summer school courses and the LEAP retesting, nearly 8,000 of the roughly 17,000 students that initially failed will be moving on to the next grade level. Following recent changes to the LEAP standards policy, one could and should ask how many of these students actually met the standards for educational attainment and skill to be promoted to the next grade level.
This year BESE (Board of Elementary and Secondary Education) passed new measures that would make it easier for Louisiana 8th graders to move on to 9th grade even though they have not met all of the performance standards to advance. These new measures, now part of BESE’s Pupil Progression Plan will advance a student on to high school even if they still cannot achieve the LEAP achievement level of “Basic” in English or Math. In fact, in some cases these students can still move on even if they perform at “Unsatisfactory” level, the lowest category, as long as they have taken summer courses and meet unimpressive criteria in attendance and GPA.
This is what our public school system deems reform. Louisiana’s public school systems keep whittling away at LEAP standards and call a victory when scores show change. Since when is “Basic” something that we strive toward for children? BESE doesn’t see these changes as weakening our system – but what else could it be called?
Kudos should be given to those teachers that worked hard this summer and also to those students that applied themselves and met their requirements.
That being said, Louisiana’s education system should be challenging students and preparing them for college and training an educated workforce, not allowing some to slip by with less than basic reading and math skills. This type of policy is not doing our students any favors.
What Louisiana really needs is true reform. That which makes schools, teachers and students alike excel. Louisiana needs more choices in education. Parents shouldn’t be obligated to use a system that will shuffle through the difficult to teach. We need more choices – which would force our public school systems to be truly accountable.
WE DID IT! Thanks to the action of many from around the state, we were able to stop the excessive legislative pay increase.
Governor Jindal Vetoes Legislative Pay Raise
The Citizens of Louisiana Spoke and the Governor Listened
BATON ROUGE - Despite the threats made by a few selfish legislators to derail his future agenda for reform, Governor Bobby Jindal took a stand on Monday morning, listened to the will of the people and vetoed Senate Bill 672 - which would have more than doubled the Louisiana Legislator's annual salaries. In a statement from Governor Jindal this morning he said "I clearly made a mistake by telling the legislature that I would allow them to handle their own affairs. As with all mistakes, you can either correct them or compound them - I am choosing to correct my mistake now."
"It is truly a new day in Louisiana when the scare tactics of a few money hungry legislators are not effective any more," said Brian McNabb, Executive Director of the Louisiana Action Council. "We applaud Gov. Jindal for taking strong action against this excessive legislative pay increase. Gov. Jindal's decision to veto S.B. 672 proves that the will of the masses is more powerful than the petty threats of a few greedy legislators. It is also important to commend the thousands of citizens who were so adamantly opposed to this blatant misuse of legislative power. This instance is a prime example of what can be done when thousands of citizens in every corner of Louisiana make their voices heard to their representatives in government," McNabb added.
We have now proven that the voices of many outraged citizens can truly affect the outcome of the legislative process. The Louisiana Action Council will continue to be a watchdog for the hard working taxpayers of Louisiana. To help LAC with our efforts to promote a limited government agenda in the future, please click here and foward this link to your friends, family members and colleagues.
CURIOUS AS TO WHETHER YOUR LEGISLATOR VOTED THEMSELVES A PAY INCREASE?!?!
The license plate reads Senate District 2 – the vehicle of SB 672’s sponsor Sen. Ann Duplessis’
Believe it or not, Senate Bill 672, which would triple the annual salaries of Louisiana Legislators, is only one step away from final passage. Within the past 36 hours, it has passed the full Senate and then a House Committee. In the coming days, SB 672 will be heard on the floor of the House of Representatives. We urge you to take a moment, call your Representative and tell them how you feel about the pay raise. Click here to find out who represents you in the House of Representatives.
Ever since the day that SB 672 was filed the talk radio airwaves have been burning up, the opinion and editorial pages have been full of comments, and citizens from around the state have been speaking their mind about this legislation. We realize that our state House and Senate members work extremely hard for their constituents and for the state of Louisiana on a daily basis. They are committed public servants and we are not trying to refute that. However, is it necessary for them to receive such an extravagant raise?
We do not know the exact percentage of Louisiana drivers who cruise around in a Mercedes Benz but we are guessing that the percentage of Louisiana workers that have the power to triple their own salary is... little to none.
If you are as outraged about the extravagant pay raise as we are, please click here to sign up to join our team of activists from around the state!
