StudentsFirst group rates Louisiana education policies high

Louisiana has the best “policy environments” in the nation for improving public schools, including a new law that makes it harder for public school teachers to earn and keep job security, according
to a report issued on Monday.

The report, which did not include student achievement or school quality, was done by the education policy group StudentsFirst, which is headed by former District of Columbia Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

Louisiana’s overall
score was listed as a “B minus.”

Only 12 states got overall grades of B or C.

More than two-thirds of states reviewed were given a D or F.

The review focused on state policies to improve the teaching profession, including “meaningful” evaluations; empowering parents through “quality choices” and other
steps and how well
states spend education dollars.

Louisiana got an A in its bid to improve the teaching profession, a C in efforts to empower parents and a C-minus in education spending.

The report said Louisiana and Florida “are exemplary states in terms of instituting laws and policies that elevate the teaching profession.”

Laws pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal in 2012 and 2010 will make it harder for teachers to earn and retain tenure and link half of a teacher’s job review to the growth of student achievement.

Comments

1) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 08/01/2013

As usual, @JeffSadow doesn't quite get his myth-information correct. Michelle Rhee's record in Washington DC was a disaster, on most fronts. Student achievement on NAEP does not show any miracles, and her cheating scandals simply reinforce what has been happening across the country (and is currently happening here in Louisiana), namely, that so-called "reformers" do not let the truth get in the way of their efforts to privatize education. They simply change the standards anytime the truth goes against them. And, of course, they hide their information behind lawsuits designed to prevent anyone from finding out the truth!

2) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 08/01/2013

Yes, @Jeffsadow and more of his droppings... He never does seem to be able to deal with the facts. Somehow I think he loses sight of things since his nose is planted so deeply in Jindal's hinter regions. Oh Jeff, you don't appear to be able to read! Pray tell, how did you get your position? Your reference to the Business Insider article is certainly not legitimate research, as it was clearly intended for one purpose. To give you an idea how badly the author butchered facts, he failed to note that 1) while accurately (once they redid the calculations) reflecting the actual cost of K-12 education the authors of the original study actually pointed out that they failed to account for the actual cost of labor in different countries, a more than minor issue; 2) He fails to note a cautionary note of the authors of the original report "Apparent differences may not be statistically significant." and 3). he fails to note that on the graduation side the numbers are basically meaningless for comparison, because each country has different expectation and measures for this number. In the US, for example, the on-time graduation rate is lower because of high stakes testing that requires that students pass a test in many states, for example. As usual, Jeff Sadow has lies looking for a place to land. As for EBR, anytime you want to have a meaningful discussion about how we increased performance over time while facing incredible challenges from the state, let me know. But we will use facts, something that just might put you at a distinct disadvantage.

3) Comment by crabby - 08/01/2013

Did you know Michelle Rhee and StudentsFirst collaborate with the University of Phoenix's School of Education?

4) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 08/01/2013

Once again, jeff stops by to drop his turds of wisdom. Will he ever stick around to debate the merits of his rants? Never. If he is unwilling to defend his position (turds) then he isn't worthy of Mr Hammatt's attention.

5) Comment by jeffsadow - 08/01/2013

@teacher guy, you need to learn of the comparative international statistics regarding educational expenditures and outcome. Start here: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-07/politics/ 30587761_1_oecd-countries-high-school-graduation-rate-spending and follow the links. Why does the high-spending U.S. do relatively poorly compared to much lower spending countries with much lower standards of living? Could it be too many incompetent teachers? Maybe trendiness more than educating going on? Special interests valued more than children?

6) Comment by jeffsadow - 08/01/2013

Michelle Rhee in just a few years started DC education on a turnaround until regressive political forces forced her out. By contrast, a previous commenter here helped destroy EBR public education by his many years on the school board. You can look it up. Keep that in mind when you assess the credibility of his rant..

7) Comment by Caddy1 - 08/01/2013

Louisiana will continue it's decline in the Education system with the inexperienced John White as the State Supt. of Education. He is so inexperienced and dishonest that it will take years to undo the damage that this man is doing along with the backing of the BESE board. This has nothing to do with putting the children first, it's nothing more than a scam. Look at John White's record and lack of experience and you will see where we are quickly heading. Check the enrollments around the state at education majors and look at the numbers plummet. Louisiana will be dead last in the nation with test scores and both John White and Gov. Jindal can only thank themselves for screwing up the entire State and ruining the public education system. Who wants to go in to a profession that is shown no respect nor backing and poor pay. Louisiana is headed in the wrong direction and with a "Dictator" style administration, it won't take long for us to hit bottom. Charter Schools and Vouchers are not the answer, it's been proven throughout the nation that these schools don't work. Louisiana needs leadership and we don't have it, and until Jindal and White finish destroying the public education we can not reverse the direction we are headed.

8) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 08/01/2013

Ah, another astro-turf group with a highly paid leader who was exposed as a liar for her claims about her own abilities, and who supported and condoned cheating in the DC schools in order to promote her anti-public school agenda is now being reported on by The Advocate in their clear "parroting of the press release" fashion of journalism. Michelle Rhee is a legend in her own mind, and is highly paid to spread her brand of myth-information. I am proud of The Advocate for not repeating the self-serving lies of this administration when Jindal said "This report confirms that Louisiana is now leading the nation in education reform because of our commitment to put a great teacher in every classroom and give every child the opportunity to get a great education. Our reforms are working - parents finally have more choices, student scores are up, and teachers are being rewarded for their hard work." Right, what a crock of you-know-what! Scores rose this past year not because of anything this administration did but because they played with the formulas! They will stop at nothing to destroy teaching as a profession, and pay off all of their political debts to the profiteers of privatization waiting to take over. Michelle Rhee and her minions have spent lots of money to deceive the public, and they appear to have won over much of the media as well. A little truth would destroy the myths of the ABC crowd, but they control with an iron hand, refusing even to release the clear evidence of their failures. Their claims are about as disingenuous as the famous "Arbeit Macht Frei" over the gates of Auschwitz and other concentration camps.

9) Comment by BRmoderate - 08/01/2013

Tradewinns, I attended NY public education up until the 11th grade. I then moved to SC. I can promise you that NY's educational system was FAR superior to SC's then and it runs laps around Louisiana's system now!

10) Comment by lovemykids - 08/01/2013

StudentsFirst, not really.

11) Comment by tradewinns - 07/01/2013

teacherguy: where does california and new york rank? antime a ranking of an educational policy which does not utilize student test scores and graduation rates, something ain't right. i guess i'm skeptical.

12) Comment by 1ryben - 07/01/2013

Do I understand this correctly? So she advocates evaluating teachers, schools, and districts according to student test scores, yet when she releases her own "scores" for states, test scores are not a factor. Hypocrisy? She does this the day before an exposé appear on the tv show frontline...hmm. Oh and shame on the advocate for essentially printing the StudentFirst press release and not explaining to the general public who StudentFirst/Rhee is and what they stand for. StudentFirst is anything but students first. Compare this Advocate article with the one from the Washington Post. I'd link to it, but the Advocate has a way of mangling the URL. Just google it.

13) Comment by teacherguy - 07/01/2013

Ben Around, you act like teacher's unions are powerful in LA. Please do some research on the strength of unions in states that rank at the top of the nation educationally...you'll find, for the most part, the stronger the unions...the higher the ranking. Also, I'd trust a doctor that has been at it for longer than 2 years (John White spent 2 years in the classroom)...any educational expert worth a grain of salt would tell you that a teacher doesn't really hit a stride in teaching until about their 5th year...granted...things aren't fine the way they are. A quick look at poverty levels expose the problem is greater than the schools can manage without society's help.

14) Comment by BRmoderate - 07/01/2013

The Advocate committed a journalistic travesty by not disclosing the agenda of StudentsFirst. Regardless of your personal stance on this issue, it is wrong to publicize a group who clearly has an agenda. If you are going to publish their findings, one must also offer a counter-opinion.

15) Comment by Ben Around - 07/01/2013

Yeah, you guys are right. We shouldn't trust anyting anyone who has an interest in the subject says. Only diinterested groups like teachers unions cand be trusted to give impartial opinions. Anyway, why should we look for better ways to educate our children. Aren't they doing just fine the way things are?

16) Comment by rockynoggin - 07/01/2013

Check out RheeFirst.com for some watchdogging on Students First. Could be biased, not sure who is behind that but at least it provides some balance. I strongly suspect this "rating" is a reward for clearing the way for corporate schools systems aka charter schools.

17) Comment by AnewKINDofFEELIN - 07/01/2013

The Advocate should be extremely ashamed of themselves for running this little advertisement for the man in charge. At the very least, any professional journalist should include all credentials and funding for such clearly politically-biased pieces.

18) Comment by Preppy6917 - 07/01/2013

Hmmm......no mention of StudentsFirst's funding sources (Rupert Murdoch, the Koch brothers, and other billionaires) or their history of have a strictly pro-privatization stance.