Progress in education doesn’t come quickly
Published 6:00 pm Sunday, August 11, 2019
More students than ever graduated from Louisiana high schools last year. The graduation rate for black students is higher than the national average. The number of students earning a qualifying score for colleges is up nearly 7,000 students since 2012.
John White, state superintendent of education, said, “If you take the long view, and look at the vast majority of the commonly used measures of education, Louisiana has improved significantly in the past five or 10 years.”
In light of those accomplishments, citizens continue to ask why Louisiana remains near the bottom of national education rankings. The Advocate talked with education officials and supporters and got some solid explanations.
Barry Erwin, president and CEO of the Council for a Better Louisiana, said the state has made major progress, but began with “tragically low” test scores.
“It is sort of like we are on an escalator,” Erwin said. “We are going up, but so are competing states. That is what makes it difficult.”
Mike Faulk, executive director of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, said education hasn’t been adequately funded. State aid for public schools was frozen for 10 of 11 years, starting in 2008.
Teachers got a $580 annual pay increase in 2013, and only their second raise in a decade ($1,000) at the recent session. That is the reason nearly 1 in 5 teachers (20 percent) is either uncertified or is teaching outside his or her field.
The Advocate said educators and others often note that Louisiana is one of the most poverty-stricken states in the nation. Nearly 70 percent of the state’s 720,000 public school students are classified as “economically disadvantaged,” including those who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
White summed it up well he said, “Look at where we started relative to other states. Louisiana has extraordinary historical challenges and starts from a low place.”
Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, and a former chairman of the House Education Committee, said a renewed interest in funding early childhood (birth to age 3) education might pave the way for major gains in national education rankings. The Legislature this year did find $20 million of the $86 million needed annually. Then, Carter gave us the bad news.
“I hate to say this, but it may be a 20-year program. We are so far behind.”
As long as the state continues to make positive education changes, the progress will be worth the wait.
