The State Department now issues "District Performance Scores" (DPS) and rankings to every district every year. Our DPS did improve last year, up 2.9 points to 95.2. However, it's out of 250, and our "improvement" did not meet the state-mandated minimum requirement.
The editorial on "progress" states that the state has set a goal of 120 by the year 2014 and that Lafayette can attain this goal with an annual growth of 3.1. However, the DPS is one year behind the test scores. So our 2014 DPS will be based upon our tests from the spring of 2013 which means we have only seven testing periods left to achieve the goal of 120, which means we must grow at an annual rate of 3.54 and not 3.1.
But someone is missing the point here. The inaccurate growth rate cited in the editorial is less relevant than the fact that we have never achieved the state-mandated minimum regardless of which number we use.
Furthermore, since 2001, our state ranking has dropped from 17th to 18th to 20th to 22nd. The state's calculations are weighted heavily toward the LEAP scores. However, the Iowa tests are administered in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th grades. The LEAP is administered only in 4th and 8th, so we have far more data using the Iowa scores and can do "longitudinal analyses" (comparisons over time), and these scores are even more discouraging.
The staff is also showing that our ACT score went from 20.6 to 20.9. However, the national average went up even more, meaning we are further from the national average now than we were before. Furthermore, LSU announced that its average ACT increased from 24.5 to 25.5 and that its goal is a 26.
The numbers speak for themselves, and the message is clear. People deserve the whole truth, and when it's unpleasant, that's when it takes courage to say it. The bottom line is simple; something needs to change. Either the current leadership must change its approach, or the elected leaders of this "school corporation" must change leadership. One way or another and for the sake of our kids, it's time for a change!
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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