It’s important for parents to know exactly how their children’s public schools are doing in terms of performance.

Thankfully, Louisiana is informing parents about school performance better than other states are, according to a review released on Wednesday by the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit.

These observations show for the first time how schools are responding since the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, a federal law that brought with it significant revisions. Nine other states were analyzed by the alliance.

Some issues still exist in the state, however. The disparity in high- and low-performing schools involves those with predominately white and black students.

According to the review, only 22 percent of black students are in an A-rated Louisiana public school. Meanwhile, black students are, on average, 47 percent of a public school’s student body. Other numbers are even more troubling. Of the usual Louisiana schools with an F grade, 83 percent of students are black.

The Advocate reported Anne Hyslop, alliance assistant director for policy, development and government relations, as saying the numbers, and the large achievement gaps, are “powerful.”

“If we have a school system that is truly equitable, we would expect the typical student body of an A school to be very similar to the student body of an F school,” she said.

The review pointed out states that have black students who are having difficulty at certain public schools. However, those states still gave those schools top marks.

Another good observation for Louisiana is that it was the only one to mention a possible “problem with excessive (discipline) rates,” according to Hyslop. The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will host a forum next week to talk about the effectiveness of the changes associated with the Every Student Succeeds Act.

The review shows Louisiana is making strides when it comes to informing parents of school performance.

However, getting rid of performance differences along racial lines remains a daunting challenge that will take plenty of effort to turn around.