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Terrebonne Parish Superintendent Philip Martin said when a new letter grade system was introduced for ranking Louisiana school texting it was designed to present the public with a system with which most people are familiar.
“People understand what A through F means,” Martin said weeks prior to last Wednesday’s official release of a report card for public schools.
The new system exposes what Martin and other educators have complained is a game of working the numbers to make them say what the person putting them together wants the statistics to say.
What they are saying now, in the language most Americans grew up with during their childhoods and adolescence, is that nearly half the schools in Louisiana are failing to make the grade.
“It is simply unacceptable to have 44 percent of schools earning D’s and F’s,” Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member Chas Roemer said. “If we are sincere with providing every child with the chance to attend a great school, we have to start by being honest and transparent about where we are and where we need to be.”
“Louisiana is continuing to improve, and some of our districts and schools are making substantial progress,” acting State Superintendent of Education Ollie Tyler said.
The number of schools receiving the equivalence of D’s and F’s has declined by 11 percent since 2007, but to some educators like Martin that is no reason to celebrate. “We still have a long way to go,” he said.
The Terrebonne superintendent said he understands the drastic need for performance improvement. His district saw its only A come from Mulberry Elementary School. Among the remaining elementary schools, six received a B, eight earned a C and four earned a D.
All middle and junior high school levels in Terrebonne Parish, one earned a B, four were handed C’s and four earned a D.
High schools saw grades of C for Terrebonne High School, South Terrebonne High School, and H.L. Bourgeois High School, while Ellender Memorial High School posted a D-.
The alternative schools of Andrew Price, the School for Exceptional Children and East Street School all posted an F grade.
The school board placed a positive spin on the condition of public education in Terrebonne Parish and said for a third consecutive year their grades have improved. “Terrebonne Parish is ranked among the top 10 districts to exhibit the most growth state-wide,” the school board said in a press release. “For the third consecutive year Terrebonne Parish has shown steady and sustainable growth,” the statement read.
Educators from the Lafourche Parish School District did not offer comment on school performances or the letter grade system or how they compared to previous year performances. However, Lafourche Superintendent Jo Ann Matthews told the Lafourche Chamber of commerce last week that the grades earned by her schools were “demoralizing.” Matthews expressed concern on what the poor overall grades mean for the future. “Frankly [it is] damaging to K-12 education,” she said.
Elementary schools in Lafourche Parish saw two schools earn a letter grade of B, 12 held a C and three earned the grade of D.
Middle and junior high schools brought home grades with one earning a B, three with C and four performing at a D level.
Lafourche high school grades were listed as C’s for both Thibodaux High School and Central Lafourche High School and a B for South Lafourche High School.
Elementary schools in the St. Mary Parish School District listed letter grades of B at four schools, C at six schools and D at two schools.
Junior high and middle schools in St. Mary Parish saw one B, one C and two D’s.
Among the high schools in St. Mary Parish, Berwick High School earned an A, both Morgan City High School, Centerville High School and Patterson each made a C, and D’s were handed to Franklin Senior High School and West St. Mary High School.
Holding to the numeric evaluation system, officials in the St. Mary Parish School District said their performance score of 98.7 exceeds the state performance score of 93.9 and is a 2.4 gain from the previous year. To make the comparison, the A earned by Berwick High School translates to a numerical posting of 123.4.
When school performance scores were first adopted in 1999, the intention was to have schools work toward making a 100. The cutoff score for what was called academically unacceptable was a level 30. Over time adjustments have been made as to how numbered grades are determined with the range going higher and higher to maximize results.
St. Mary school officials pointed out that 10 of their 23 schools posted numbers higher than 100 and that none of their schools were listed as unacceptable.
“Schools in St. Mary have consistently strived to exceed their annual growth targets,” St. Mary School District Superintendent Donald Aguillard said. “This persistent, unwavering dedication of district students and staff has resulted in admirable sustained academic growth throughout the last seven years.”
While many educators placed their positive light on public education in Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal, who advocated for the new letter grade system, called the school performance results unacceptable.
“We pushed for this law so parents have the information they need to understand the performance of the schools their children attend and the performance of the school districts those schools are in.”
Jindal said if any of his children brought home a report card that comprised nearly 50 percent D’s or F’s, “we would have some serious work to do to get them back on track.
“We cannot prepare Louisiana’s workforce of tomorrow with a school system where one-third of our students are not on grade level and 44 percent of our schools are failing.”
Louisiana Association of Educators spokeswoman Ashley Davis took exception with Jindal’s comments.
“Members of the Louisiana Association of Educators are disappointed with Gov. Jindal’s response to the school letter grade rankings,” Davis said.
The LAE blamed Jindal for the poor school performance across the state. “What he should have done was take ownership for his administration cutting funds for public schools, which shows a lack of concern for Louisiana students,” LAE President Joyce Haynes said. “You don’t freeze education funding for three straight years and expect schools to magically improve.”
Jindal referred to LAE comments as “excuses attacking the methodology of these letter grades.” The governor, along with superintendents like Martin, has made it clear the opinion that throwing money at a situation does not automatically improve conditions.
“The cuts we have had to make are not in the classroom,” Martin said. “Do we have a long way to go? Yes. Can it be done? Yes.”
Martin said in his school district attention in recent years has been placed on elementary schools with the idea being that higher grade level scores can best improve as students receive a stronger academic foundation at younger ages.
Jindal, a proponent of charter schools, said students “trapped” in failing schools need more options, that public schools that are failing need to be held accountable, that teachers in well-performing schools should be rewarded through value added programs, but most of all, “We must not tolerate failure.”
The governor called on parents to become active in the working of their local schools and on candidates actively involved in campaigns for the Oct. 22 primary election, to demand and work for change in the performance of Louisiana public schools.
“We must reform our school system,” Jindal said. “Failure is not longer an option.”
