State school chief targets BR problems

Advocate staff photo by RICHARD ALAN HANNON

State Superintendent of Education John White told the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge Wednesday that numerous failing public schools in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system need attention.

The state has a moral obligation to upgrade failing public schools in the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, state Superintendent of Education John White said Wednesday.

White told the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge that no parish school system in the state needs public school improvements more than those in the capital city.

He said that, in one section of north Baton Rouge, 19 of 21 public schools with about 10,000 students are graded “F” — for failing — by the state.

White said it is hard to “put ourselves in the shoes of those parents” whose children are stuck in failing schools and unable to finance private or parochial schools.

But he said that, just as New Orleans public schools have shown gains since Hurricane Katrina, low-performing schools in Baton Rouge can do the same.

“It doesn’t take a storm; it doesn’t take a flood,” White said.

The state superintendent of education recommends and carries out policies of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which sets policies for about 700,000 public school students statewide.

White said he wants to make Baton Rouge the Silicon Valley of the nation in terms of education reform.

The Silicon Valley, which is southeast of San Francisco, is a center of high technology activities.

Top state education officials announced last week that they were creating a special “Baton Rouge Achievement Zone” aimed at improving troubled schools in north Baton Rouge.

Nine schools are set to enter the zone initially. Up to 30 may do so.

The East Baton Rouge Parish school system has about 43,000 students.

It is rated “D” by the state, and has been embroiled in a variety of controversies in recent weeks.

The district recently hired a new superintendent after lengthy arguments.

In addition, the state Senate last week approved a bill that would pave the way for a breakaway district in southeast Baton Rouge amid complaints from parents critical of school operations.

The two-bill package is awaiting action in the House.

The state has about 1,300 public schools.

White said 117 are rated “F” by the state and more than two dozen of those are in East Baton Rouge Parish.

However, the superintendent also said state residents have a right to be proud of some public school gains in the past decade or so.

He said that, while 44 percent of schools are rated “D” or “F” by the state, it would have been 80 percent 12 years ago.

White said Louisiana’s high school graduation rate is 71 percent, up from 61 percent about a dozen years ago.

The state hopes to reach an 80 percent high school graduation rate by 2014.

Comments

1) Comment by Elderly Man - 03/05/2012

First, for at least three centuries, perhaps, we have known how to create superior schools. Second, we have known for forty or fifty years how to educate students from low economic backgrounds. //We refuse to do what we ought to do. The State Department of Education has no competence beyond what anyone else has to correct problems or create successful schools.

2) Comment by WhoCares - 03/05/2012

Where are all the BRHS parents screaming racism???

3) Comment by timesright - 03/05/2012

I'm sick and tired of hearing John White's rhetoric! Where are the A and B schools in the RSD?

4) Comment by squiggly - 03/05/2012

Politivore, you are so right. The mark keeps moving. What used to be an A (4 or 5 star) school is now a D (1 or 2 star) school based upon the SPS rating. I can never find data that correlates the test scores to student GPA . One thing that I find interesting is that when you look at most of these D and F school "grades", anywhere from 25% (F) to 65% (D) of the students are scoring basic and above on the tests. If the school is not doing its job, how can even 25% of the students perform on or above grade level, let alone 2/3 of the school being at or above grade level? I never hear about what the so called "A and B" schools, or the private schools do that's different or better. I have known many people from low income families, and I know that the problem is not that parents don't care. There's a whole host of issues related to poverty that affect student test scores. I never hear of anyone coming up with ideas about why low income students score lower on tests and how to fix it. I also never hear of anyone working with the low income families to help improve student achievement. If the parental involvement is an issue, why not educate the parents on what they need to do to help their children?

5) Comment by Politivore - 03/05/2012

Considering the State DoE manages the letter grade system and has increased the cutoff SPS for the letter grades significantly over the last several years, it would be relatively easy to figure out the average improvement rate and then set the new scores to a point where school improvement would unlikely intersect with the new scores. Voila! Failing schools.

6) Comment by mikedeshot - 03/05/2012

Mr White forgot to mention that the State Department of Education which he leads has had control of all of the worst performing schools in East Baton Rouge and one in St. Helena and one in Pointe Coupee for the last 4 years and all of these schools have declined in performance since they were taken over. It is true however, that he was not Superintendent during most of that time. I hope that local industry does take an active role in establishing career connections with the students in low performing schools. Right now many students do not see relevance in school and they have few good role models. We need more citizen and parent involvement in our schools.

7) Comment by Crawdaddy - 03/05/2012

The notion that if only the parents of those 10,000 students could "finance parochial or private schools", and therefore solve the problem of their children failing by escaping "F" schools, implies no responsibility for the failure can be attributed to the parents or the students. Therefore all of the problem must be a result of poor teachers and administrators. So the solution is simple: replace all the poor teachers and administrators. So easy, even a caveman could do it. I have met many teachers and administrators in the EBRSS over many years, and the vast majority are dedicated folks who work their tushes off for their kids. We all have had a few bad teachers as we went through school, but to imply that the current system is full of incompetence is just plain wrong. No, it is never easy or simple, and one size will never fit all. But the solution lies in ownership of the problem by ALL parties, including parents and their children.

8) Comment by JL70710 - 03/05/2012

These letter grade evaluations are absolutely bogus and meaningless. I am by no means an apologists for schools doing an inadequate job of preparing students for jobs or college, but this letter-grade short hand tells me nothing about actual student achievement, drop out rates, or other empirical measures of importance, especially out of context and with lack of similar comparison data with schools of similar student demographics. As a former teacher, I can attest that an 'A' is not always exceptional and an 'F' is not always failing; these are arbitrary symbols that can be slapped on a "product" based on a subjective set of criteria. Can we stop hearing about 'F' schools and start actually talking about the actual problems? In other words, the problem is not that someone labeled the school with an 'F' and something has to be done. An 'F' is not a problem. The problem may be that students drop out at an exceptionally high rate. Drop out rates need to be and should be corrected, not 'F's.

9) Comment by WhoCares - 03/05/2012

EM I'm not sure what that means but I tend to agree with its feel.

10) Comment by Elderly Man - 03/05/2012

Those godless, atheistic biological scientists are undermining our schools.