It's not only happennig in Louisiana though, it all over. In Georgia they actually did just the opposite a few years. The very powerful head of the State Legislature Tom Murphy, used his influence to get the legislature to pass a law making all private schools play up one level, thinking that would hurt the won/loss records and therefore the programs themselves and it has pretty much backfired as most of them have done either better as they are now getting better athletes than before. Now there are all kinds of rumblings being heard that many of the power brokers in the state want to make the private schools play in their own classification separate from the public schools. And of course one of the biggest problems is that 95% of all of the private schools are in the Atlanta area and they are already pissed because so many of the Atlanta area schools are gigantic and have been dominating the top Classes.

California has had this type of ruling in place for years as had Mississippi. And of course Delasalle High School is one of them and has prospered as had several other Catholic schools in their area. Any other states that you guys know of that have separate classifications for private and public schools?

This private vs public argument has been around as long as I can remember. I went to Redemptorist in the late 70s and we were accused of recruiting b/c we dominated the state in basketball. Catholic High and all the parochial schools in New Orleans were accused of this as well.

Evangel raised this issue to another level in the 90s. I think much of it had to do with their perceived arrogance and how they went about building their football program. Right or wrong, they pissed off a lot of the public schools.

I'm not sure what the solution is to this problem, but I do think they are heading in the wrong direction. IMO, this is the first step to separating the public and private schools, which is what many of the public schools really want.

Truly sad...

when a school has 150-250 students and dresses out 100 players for football with maybe 7 or 8 Div. 1 recruits, do you think they are playing by the rules?

Evangel holds their players back a grade (sometimes 2). They have a special grade "8 plus". So there are alot of 19 year olds on their team playing against high school kids. That's fair. :dis:

I'm sure we could all beat up on people half our size. But would we be proud of it?

i hope Randy70 has come back to this thread. yes, the LHSAA is more reactionary than we'd like, but isn't that true with Most things/people? evangel and john curtis are private schools, and they seek out (recruit) who they want to play. that is not something a public school can do. and the principles of the districts evangel and john curtis would play/have played in did the right thing by not playing them. it should help shut down their exposure a bit.
and LSUDieHard... try understanding something before you spout off. there is a Major error in your thinking. they are private schools who are asking to play up into the 5a/4a classes, not public schools who are there based on all the right criteria. please, there are small children around, just shut up.
MPF

Actually, that is the exact reason why Caddo Magnet does NOT even have a football team. it would be unfair because they draw students from all over the parish.

ECA used to have the 8-plus program..

but by LHSAA eligibility rules can't utilize this program to hold-back athletes anymore. West Monroe, a public school, used to hold back kids all the time. Back in 1998 the Rebs had like 36 seniors on their ballclub and one of the greatest HS football teams I've ever seen.

Also, magnet schools are all over Caddo parsih, not just Caddo Magnet High. Byrd is a Math & Sciences magnet, Fair Park a medical careers magnet, Capt. Shreve is engineering...etc. So these schools can get kids to attend their school from outside of the district. Example: Arnaz Battle attended Byrd but lived in the Huntington district.

And, IMO the whole playing at your enrollment level is going to backfire on the public schools trying to affect Evangel and Curtis. So, instead of winning the state title in Classes 5A and 4A, they'll go back to destroying 2A & 1A teams. And in the meantime what's happened is that it's now adversely affected the classification figures and the districts. Before there were two 5A districts in North Louisiana, now because the figures bumped Capt. Shreve and Ouachita Parish down to 4A, there will be one large 5A district from Natchitoches to Shreveport to Monroe.

It's funny IMO how many whiners there are about Evangel and Curtis from those who can't work hard enough to beat or compete with them. But it's funny how Longview, TX, Abilene, TX, O Perry Walker, Redemptorist have all managed to beat both Evangel or Curtis within the last few years. Bottom line is that ECA and Curtis still have to line up and execute, it's just they do it better than most.

In Mississippi, the MHSAA won't allow competition between public & private schools. A couple of years ago, they allowed 1 or 2 games...then backed out.

Have you ever considered this?

LA public schools have consistently ranked somewhere around 46-50th academically as compared to the other states. Perhaps private education is an attractive option for parents given the sorry state of public education. If football is an avenue to take advantage of this education, then many will take advantage of the opportunity. I believe that the same environment that allows for accademic excellence in private schools also allows for athletic excellence. Better leadership, clearer focus, and less red tape and beaurocracy to deal with. I'm not anti-public school, but I think public school is harmed by the fact that there is no competition to cause it to improve. Make no mistake, those schools with the best leadership will continue to excel because ultimately parents are going to do what's best for the kids.

I'm sure many parents who choose to send their children to private schools do so with education in mind. However, these really aren't the kids we are talking about here.

Some private schools actively recruit athletes for the sole purpose of them playing football for their school, not for educational purposes. Unlike public schools, they have no boundaries or districts to restrict them. They also have the luxury of paying the tuition (full or part) for some of these athletes whose families can't afford to do so. In many ways, it's like college recruiting.

This is the rub with public schools...