F-Rated Schools Spark New Plans

Nearly one in 10 public school students attends an F-rated school in Louisiana, which is triggering a new push by state leaders to make improvements.

“It is a horrible situation that we need to correct,” said Jim Garvey, vice-president of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The list of failing schools includes 20 of 85 in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, according to figures compiled by the state Department of Education.

About 9,000 students attend those low-performing schools, EBR officials said.

Three school districts — East Baton Rouge, Jefferson and Caddo — account for nearly one of every three F-rated schools.

State Superintendent of Education John White announced on Feb. 20 that new steps to improve schools with failing marks will be one of his five priorities for the 2013-14 school year.

He said 63,000 of the state’s 712,000 students statewide attend schools that earned a failing mark in the latest annual School Performance Scores, which are based mostly on how they fared on key tests.

White said he wants to expand partnerships with the schools using options like the Baton Rouge Achievement Zone, which includes seven troubled schools in north Baton Rouge; alliances with charter operators in the Jefferson and Lafayette school districts and a fund that would aid school districts willing to overhaul failing schools.

“We have got to eliminate F-rated schools in our state,” he told reporters earlier this month.

The superintendent, through a spokesman, declined to discuss details of the plan.

White said earlier that more information will be released in March.

The Lafayette school system has two schools rated F.

Garvey, whose BESE district includes about half of Jefferson Parish, said in the past the state has tried to ignore failing schools and, at other times, relied on state takeovers “which is not what BESE members want to do.”

Garvey, who is an attorney in Metairie, said the favored route would be for the state to provide troubled schools with more resources to make improvements “while keeping in our back pocket the ultimate big stick of taking over the schools.”

White, in comments earlier this month, said turning around F-rated schools is not just the job of the Recovery School District.

He said the task “requires innovators across the state.”

White said funding for troubled schools will not require an appropriation from the Legislature, which faces a $1.3 billion shortfall for the financial year that begins on July 1.

One possible partner for the Baton Rouge Achievement Zone is New Schools Baton Rouge, which is run by a former official of the state Department of Education.

“We have had conversations with numerous charter operators with proven track records,” said Chris Meyer, founder and chief executive officer of the group.

New Schools Baton Rouge calls itself a community partner that can bring talent and resources to troubled schools, such as the seven getting special attention in north Baton Rouge.

However, Meyer said the 2014-15 school year would be the first time any such alliances begin.

Schools in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system have made strides as the state’s minimum score to avoid sanctions has risen, said Lizabeth Frischhertz, the local system’s chief officer for accountability, assessment and evaluation.

Frischhertz said that, in 2009, 72 percent of district fourth-graders passed LEAP, an annual exam that measures math and English skills.

In 2012 the passage rate was 85 percent, she said.

“If we are narrowing the gap with the state we are doing something right,” Frischhertz said.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, said it took the state generations to get into a situation where 63,000 students attend F-rated schools.

“We want substantially better performance for the sake of the children,” Appel said. “But we recognize that will take some time.”

Comments

1) Comment by conglo - 01/03/2013

Maybe these failing schools should be given more money per student. Jim Garvey's school gets $87,500 & had a school grade of D in 2011, but no grade on school grades of 2012. Seems they had some changes so they do not have to report their grades for 3 years? These school grades used to be on an Excel spreadsheet on the old DOE web site, but now not on the new DOE web site! 2011 School Grades 026101 Jefferson Community School (Charter School) 6-8 Jefferson Parish Elementary/Middle Schools Grade D James Garvey, vice-president BESE, still serves as adviser to Jefferson Community School. Jefferson Community School is not listed on the 2011-2012 School Grades. Jefferson charter school budget gets $87,500 per student http://educationviews.org/jefferson-charter-school-budget-has-87500-per-student/ Posted by or from a variety of publications on EducationViews.org on November 27, 2011 in Daily

2) Comment by GardenVariety - 01/03/2013

Let me correct a logical inconsistency in my previous post: Only together as a collective should persecuted educators mount a resistance. Particularly in the cases of individual classroom teachers and principals, they probably SHOULD NOT vocalize their criticisms-- unless they are ready to retire from/leave education or unless they have the stalwart support of their district administrators. I know about this personally. A relative--one of those innovative, fire-in-the-belly, every-child-can-learn types [a dying breed]--was reassigned because of something ANOTHER RELATIVE WROTE. Who was this relative replaced by, you might ask? One of Jindal's staunch supporters, who was also one of the original executors of his school "reforms." I wouldn't have believed it either if I'd not observed it and had not heard similar stories from other credible education folks. The First Amendment does not seem to apply to Louisiana educators or their relatives. There are those with connections and more clout who could spearhead a real resistance and provide cover for their colleagues with fewer and less. Superintendents might also give up some security for morality: be willing, as a group, to "go slow" with Guv Stoopid's half-baked, politically-motivated "reforms" and to be a firewall between the governor's mansion and the schools (I.e. students and their teachers). As well, any folks outside of education who are concerned about the plight of education under this regime need to become more vocal; to those sympathetic citizens and civic leaders with clout and connections, now is the time to act--calling in favors, putting on more pressure, making life difficult for an otherwise impudent regime. BTW: No need to apologize, Noel Hammatt--"sue" was an apt Freudian Slip.

3) Comment by GardenVariety - 01/03/2013

NOT ONE school system should do anything until 2014, when Stoopid Parti will no longer care about education because he'll be focussing all efforts to obtaining a DC job ( he hopes THE job). At that point, a Louisiana-crafted plan may emerge, constructed by citizens and educators devoted to LA's children and future--not devoted to non-state political/private interests. If any action should be taken, it should be political and legal. Rank and file teachers and principals have absolutely NO influence over what's going on here. They've been threatened by their superintendents to tow the line because the supers are themselves terrified by the repercussions of even mildly criticizing Guv Stoopid's ALEC- dictated agenda. As much as I agree with and admire Prof. Hammatt, we would be better served if he applied his expansive knowledge and large professional network to more substantially wage a resistance against the duplicity being hatched by Gov Stoopid on Louisiana. He should be joined by the hundreds--if not thousands--of educators (of all levels) who've been fired, reassigned, threatened, and intimidated by Guv Stoopid and his minion. Otherwise, those educators are as responsible for the disaster as the governor, the state super, BESE, and legislators.

4) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 01/03/2013

"sorry about misspellings... trying to get some work done. In first sentence below "sue" should be "use." Sorry. :) Other mistakes as well, but I suspect you can get the meaning. I will try to slow down and edit more.

5) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 01/03/2013

@old yat: Just a predisposition on my part to actually sue facts and figures. If you have a specific question about any of my facts and figures, I'll be glad to try and answer it. I mention John Spain, well, because he was on the Board of Advance Baton Rouge, which failed miserably, and in fact was deceitful about what their intentions were from the first public meeting. Lots of details and plans hatched behind closed doors, not in the open. They he comes up with a new plan, starts a "non-profit" and suddenly wants more money flowing through his organization. Wouldn't any prudent investor want to know how well you did on previous ventures? Since so much of this is behind the scenes, I thought some in Baton Rouge might want to know the truth. For the same reason I have shared with many that the State Director of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), an "Astro-turf" so called "non-profit" just happens to be the only person listed at a local company with a fancy title called "Sable International" just happens to have very close connections to the National BAEO group, and in fact apparently makes a great deal of money off that. So, we have a State Director of an astro-turf group who is also making money off the very services he does for BAEO... like media, event organizing, placing videos on you-tube and buying t-shirts and really nice signs for all participants. I have asked if participants in their staged events are paid, but have received no answer on that one. Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion. I just think that, sometimes, it makes sense to investigate a bit before jumping to conclusions. It is also why I question the "reformers" who refuse to be out front, open, and honest about almost anything they do!

6) Comment by old yat - 01/03/2013

Hell, where is "TwinkieCat"? She?He? knows more about how the school system is or isn't run in this state and why it is all Gov. Jindal's fault.After all we have a bunch of handpicked yesmen bent on destroying an absolutely wonderful(LOL) school system just because...they can!! Oh!! thats right I forgot it's all about the money,after all do you think,the "pickers"and"string pullers"such as Mr. Spain,Mr.Monsour and the rest of the "Good Ole Boys" are in this for the fun?Come on Mr. Hammatt,who are trying to impress with all your facts and figures?Sounds like you have a personal problem with Baton Rouge's "string pullers".If I am wrong,please let me apologize,just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions.

7) Comment by spqr - 01/03/2013

White said turning around F schools are not just the job of the RSDs? Who is he kidding? Nearly 80 percent of the charter schools and RSDs in New Orleans are failures. Failures! More White-lies.

8) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 01/03/2013

Let's be clear. There are NO failing schools. There are schools where a large number of students are failing to meet the arbitrary standard set by bureaucrats in Baton Rouge's Department of Education, but there are NO failing schools. Why? Schools don't fail. Students, on certain standardized tests that may, or may not be appropriate and meaningful, fail to pass those same tests. Why? Is it the school? Research suggests it is NOT the school's fault. Only 17% of student achievement on standardized tests can be attributed to the school's teachers, administration, and even the student composition. Yes, all of these do affect student achievement, but at nowhere near the higher rates of impact of things like family circumstances, stability of the home during the student's first few years of life, and his or her nutrition, mother's education level, the number of hours of television watched, the amount of lead in the child's environment. ALL of these factors have impacts GREATER than the impact of a single teacher or school. The reformers don't want to talk about these factors. Why? They can't figure out how to make money off of it. Let's look at a few facts. "A" schools have an average of 34% of their students qualifying for free meals. "F" schools have 89% qualifying for free meals, on average. "C" schools around 60%. SEE ANY PATTERNS? Now, explain how Zachary Public School System,the number one rated in the state, has an "F" school? Come on "reformers," explain that one as being due to bad teachers, poor management, or adults focused on adults in the building instead of students. Number one district in the state... OK, let's look at another situation. John White took over the RSD around four year's ago, and yet, every local RSD school is rated as an "F". and in fact have the lowest scores in the state. In New Orleans, a full 79% of the schools overseen by White and Dobard have either an "F" or a "D" rating. John White is quoated in this article as saying “We have got to eliminate F-rated schools in our state,” he told reporters earlier this month." Well, how well has HE done on that score? By the way, the RSD has quite a few more "F" schools that they admit to, since all of the "T" schools are really "F" schools. The "T" is just an excuse, they are turning the school over to someone else simply to ensure that ti doesn't appear as an "F." This is how they barely managed to pull a "D" out of their... well, you understand. So, John White has not come close to eliminating "F" schools, and how he has another plan... though they have declined to release plans about it. But we now know that "White, in comments earlier this month, said turning around F-rated schools is not just the job of the Recovery School District." Let's hope not, since they have failed miserably. Perhaps because, in their total lack of any meaningful experiences and deep understanding of education and the research on teaching and learning, they have simply come to believe their own talking points, which are in no way supported by evidence. Speaking of evidence, again, I have publicly asked that all documents related to student performance, all spreadsheets that researchers can use to determine what really works, as opposed to what someone WANTS to work, be retuned to public access? Why are they being hidden? We now know that there weren't really any complaints about the old website, and the state Department of Education has now admitted that, so claims that the reason for eliminating the old website are now being quickly narrowed down to one reason. To hide the truth. Why are all of these reformers so afraid of the truth? Garvey, who sits on the Board of a highly overpriced Charter SChool in Jefferson, claims something has to be done. He sits on the Board overseeing the worst school system in the state. So why should his comments be given any particular weight? John Spain, heavily involved in Advance Baton Rouge which failed on any measures to help students, is not being given an entire district, to run through another TFA "five week wonder" who was also over the RSD, so what exactly is his claim to fame? When are the citizens of Louisiana going to ask the tough questions of our "leaders" in education, who truly are the best "money can buy." Follow the money, and seek the truth. While there are no "failing schools" there are failing leaders. Those who are disingenuous, who lie and use shell games to hide their failures, and who time and time again fail to be open and honest and truthful. How many examples do they have to give us before we, and the media, holds THEM accountable!

9) Comment by LawyerDan65 - 01/03/2013

The RSD has virtually 100% F schools. The RSD was supposed to turn these schools around, but instead they have simply farmed them out to charter operators who have sucked public dollars out of public school ssystems while failing in their mission to turn the schools around. The RSD experiment has been a failure and the State needs to cut its losses and put those school sback under the control of school boards elected by the people.

10) Comment by mikedeshot - 01/03/2013

The truth is that Superintendent John White and his Department of Education which is now run by Teach for America non-educators has no clue about how to improve school performance. All of the schools taken over by his Department and converted into charter schools in the Baton Rouge area are rated F. In addition, the School for the Deaf and the School for the Visually Impared which have always been run by the Department are also rated F. So why are we the taxpayers supposed to believe that they can do anything right? The EBR system and other public school systems are being prevented by the Department from enforcing the student discipline laws while charter schools are allowed to dump out their disrutptive students back to the public schools. Yet they are still rated as F! Even with all these failures by the State DOE, they are now requiring EBR to convert all of their low performing schools into charters. However this time the State will not take the blame for the failure. I agree with the commentor who said it is high time we require parents to be responsible for the performance of their children and stop blaming our professional educators.

11) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/02/2013

Well said @On_The_Fence. Great story about truth at http://louisianavoice.com/2013/02/28/whites-tourettes-outbreak- over-newest-emailgate-followed-by-revelations-of-little-white-lie- about-doe-website-changes/ If link doesn't work, go to Louisiana Voice and read the truth about the state Department of Education Website.

12) Comment by On_The_Fence - 28/02/2013

Logic is an enemy and truth is a menace.

13) Comment by WhoCares - 28/02/2013

SEBR better get out while you can.

14) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/02/2013

According to this report, Chris Meyers is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, yet when New Schools for Baton Rouge was first registered at the Secretary of State's Office, only one name was on the documents. John Spain.

15) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/02/2013

Simple point to be made here, but one that Will Sentell will never admit to. One in 10 EBR students are in "failing schools." 10 out of 10 students in the RSD schools in the Baton Rouge area are in failing schools, many of them formerly run by Advance Baton Rouge, where John Spain was a key player. John Spain now proposes another scheme to take over and run even more schools, while 100% of the students in the schools he was involved in are in "failing schools." I have an idea for all of these reformers who say they support (but actually despise) parental choice... here is an idea! Let parents vote as to whether or not they want the RSD of any John Spain scheme to run their schools, or would they rather continue with an elected school board and local schools for local communities? Why are these schemes being cooked up in private offices with the smell of money, yet never do we find these same folks asking the parents what they want! Why are they so afraid of the truth?

16) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/02/2013

Before the Superintendent took all of the historical data on schools off of the website in order to pre=vent researchers from easily showing the deceit being practiced by the RSD and others, it would have been easy to show just how misguided the current claims are. It is interesting that there is a full-blown effort underway to get the "Baton Rouge Achievement Zone underway, and I suspect it has to do with the all the changes coming, as well as the lawsuits that are going to be keeping the State Department of Education busy in the coming year, as they start to litigate everything from Public Records requests to claims from the Souther Poverty Law Center that the state is illegally failing to meet the needs of special education students under its care. That of course is in addition to all of the current lawsuits. For a moment,m though, take a look at what success the Superintendent has had in his RSD in this area. Every school taken over by the state of Louisiana, and run under a variety of groups, but ultimately directly under John White and now Patrick Dobard are currently rated as "F" schools, and most of the students have departed, leaving EBR scrambling for space. Now, who was part of the operation known as Advance Baton Rouge, that took over and failed to achieve any success with their schools? A key member of Advance Baton Rouge, someone who was apparently waiting in the wings for the desegregation suit to end so he could begin his efforts at privatization for the benefit of a few of his friends, was John Spain. After failing miserably with Advance Baton Rouge (but perhaps not, since lots of Bill and Melinda Gates money and other funds flowed through his Baton Rouge Area Foundation), John Spain began his next effort to skim money from public funds for education, with New Schools for Baton Rouge is expectred to bring in $30 Million to the BRAF coffers, for which BRAF will receive its share of the proceeds. In an article in a BRAF publication touting this venture, the same tired lies about the RSD "success" that have been debunked by many researchers (and basically ignored by the mass media) are repeated. But let's face it, has John Spain really shown that he can run a successful operation? While another Teach For America "five week wonder" is supposedly in charge, everyone I have spoke to admits that John Spain continued to be the one pulling the strings. His record? Not exactly one of success. Why the rush to do this? The more you learn about it, the less you are going to like it, and the more resistance they are going to find. How many lawsuits can they handle at once? They claim that EBR is on board, and now all those dollars flowing into school board campaigns, and BESE campaigns, and the effort to get "just the right Superintendent (who is now suing his old board, the one that effectively released him from all responsibility long before he was hired by EBR, and the local EBR Board Members claim they knew all about this when he was hired) now seems to be paying off, as they have him over a barrel with state threats of takeovers. So, are we really going to trust these people to try another of their failed experiments? I wonder if anyone in South Baton Rouge would be willing to play roulette with any of these characters wanting to take over North Baton Rouge Schools.

17) Comment by tradewinns - 28/02/2013

i believe the one common core problem in all the failing schools is the lack of parental participation. the state could step up and create a system that punishes parents whose children arrive at school unprepared for that days education. there are already school district in other states that fine ($)parents if their children skip school or have unexcused absences. their attendance has improved remarkably. EBR could try and do something along that line rather than throw more and more money at the hole in the ground or try and send students to private schools when they need to correct our problem with public education (which has worked in the past). sure that's harder, but if it was easy we wouldn't have to pay so much money to "education leaders" to do something/anything to save our schools. it is time, past time really, for taxpayers to turn the heat on the parents whose children are holding back progress in education. we do not need another generation of adults living on welfare or being incarcerated because they do not have the education it takes to secure a job with a decent livable wage so they can raise their families to be a productive member of society.

18) Comment by ovation - 28/02/2013

It has already been shown in Florida that the new Common Core tests will have lower results. It is a more challenging test with more evidence responses. Our students are only being taught now how to respond to these types of questions in some classes. This year and definitely next year's scores will drop across the board. The reformers will use it as an example of 'our failing public schools.' Also, BTW, the article states, "...latest annual School Performance Scores, which are based mostly on how they fared on key tests." There aren't 'tests' (plural) but a test (singular) that is being used to evaluate all learning that goes on for the year in the classroom. Imagine if you, in your job, were evaluated on one day's performance. How would you do?

19) Comment by foldgers - 28/02/2013

"...new steps to improve schools with failing marks will be one of his five priorities for the 2013-14 school year." - - Why? Implement the steps NOW. Seems like they already gave up for this current school year. Great leadership! This years sucks already, even though it isn't over, so, let's wait until next year. great!

20) Comment by ovation - 28/02/2013

Does this article mention any thing about how many RSD schools or charters are F schools? I know when they (DOE) touts the success of RSD they have maybe one or two examples and then they brag about what they are doing is so great. If they are so great why doesn't Mr. White, as the Superintendent, take their model and make it a statewide program?

21) Comment by Concerned_Parent - 28/02/2013

We have not seen the results of the new Common Core, Compass, nor teacher evalutation system yet and they already have another "plan"??? But he can't disclose it yet, of course. You can't "plan" students into getting better grades. White and Jindal must have to get their jaws massaged daily with all the talking they do.