Louisiana ranked 4th among states for school choice efforts
by Town Talk staff
thetowntalk.com
September 8, 2013
Louisiana ranks fourth nationwide in a survey of efforts to give parents and guardians the power to choose the best education for their children, according to the latest rankings from the Center for Education Reform.
The center’s Parent Power Rankings reflect education opportunities with traditional public schools, charter schools, homeschooling, virtual schools and voucher schools.
Indiana was ranked highest in the survey, with a score of 87 percent. It was followed by Florida (2nd, 84 percent), Ohio (3rd, 82 percent), Louisiana (4th, 81 percent) and Arizona (5th, 80 percent).
“Like a phoenix up from the ashes, the Bayou State has adopted parent empowerment measures of national significance in the last seven years that have helped reverse decades of decline,” the center said of the results for Louisiana. “Thousands of children once stuck in failing schools now have access to the private schools of their choice, and a robust charter law serves students in need. In addition, more digital learning opportunities are available across the state, a dramatic change in teacher tenure and accountability for all schools has been enacted, and parents have ready access to information, driving a high Parent Power Index where once no measurable parent power existed.”
Other comments about Louisiana:
-On charter schools: “Louisiana has an above-average charter school law that has improved slowly since a robust charter movement began in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Outside of the Recovery District, however, traditional school districts neither encourage nor promote the creation of charter schools. Having an independent authorizer would help encourage charter growth.”
-On online learning: Louisiana’s Virtual School dates back to 2000, but in the 2013 – 2014 school year the program transitioned to the Course Choice system. While still limited, the Course Choice program allows up to 3,500 students to participate in some form of digital learning. The program allows for multiple providers but with enrollment capped, access to digital learning is not as widespread as it should be.”
-On teacher quality: “Objective evidence of student learning and subjective teacher evaluations are weighted equally, and make up 50 percent of their annual evaluations. Louisiana teachers receive feedback about their evaluations and their professional development is aligned with evaluation findings. Tenure can be lost after one ineffective rating and is only received if a teacher has five of six highly effective ratings. Teachers who receive unsatisfactory evaluations are required to go on improvement plans and are eligible for dismissal if they do not improve. Louisiana has one of the most comprehensive performance pay policies in the country, requiring all human resources decisions to be based on a combination of performance, demand and experience.”
-On transparency: “Very parent-friendly data is provided by the state Department of Education. Parents can access a letter grade for their school along with a comprehensive report card. Parents can customize and download reports for every school in the state or compare just a few. Links to both charter school information and applications for the state’s voucher program are provided on the homepage. For the 68 local school boards, elections are held every four years in October.”
