State to takeover 10 failing schools in Louisiana

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/education/37695769.html

The state is to take over 10 schools in the state, 8 of which are in East Baton Rouge Parish, and put them in the Recovery School District. There were 33 schools eligible for the take over, but the state's only taking schools in EBR and in Caddo Parish.

Parents of students in the schools that are to be taken over have been very outspoken against the takeover, and most are planning to keep their kids enrolled in EBR schools after the takeover. What this means is that the schools that have not been taken will have their districts redrawn, and have to take in the kids from the failing schools. This will create an overcrowding problem in those schools an ultimately cause the quality of education at those schools to go down as well.

Another article:
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9676296

Was wondering if anyone else had been following this, and what thoughts are.

 

You can thank Judge Parker back in 1980. :thumb:

 

How can anyone argue with this statement?

If they can not do for themselves...then maybe it's right for someone to step in and do for them.

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere that they would bus kids to different schools. Where does it say that? They tried to do that here in Bossier Parish and it failed miserably.

Question for anyone against this...would you send your kids to any of these schools...willingly?

I didn't think so.

The parents that send their kids to these schools do so because they lack any alternative. The administrators, teachers, and staffs of these schools have shown a lack of ability to provide these children with a proper education. No school is taken over without years of warnings and help. What other option is there?

 

The parents that send their kids to these schools are often the BIGGEST problem the kids have in not being able to read or write. A teacher can bust his or her @$$ to teach a kid who's far behind, but then what?

Now, the schools, I'm sure, are horribly underperforming, but what's the state going to be able to do with it? Are they going to throw more money to have more teachers, smaller classes, etc?

And I agree with a previous poster who suggested that Judge Parker killed the EBR school district (and over time, the city of Baton Rouge with it) back in 1980.

 

You wouldn't be implying that some parents encourage their kids to fail just to profit off the system...would you?

Because if so...then I agree with you. I've seen it myself and could provide countless examples of parents who couldn't care less how their children do in school and are only interested with the check that comes each month.

What can be done about them...nothing. Not without completely changing the current system. That's only going to get worse...not better. We can, however, ensure that the individual schools are doing everything in their power to help the students while they are with them. What takes place when they leave and go home is not in our control. What takes place in the classroom is.

Closing the school and sending these kids to another isn't the answer either. They will only go there and fail also. In the process, they will probably drag a few others down with them.

I don't have the answer. All I can do is agree with BESE that something has to be done. Their current structure has failed and to keep repeating that failure year after year is futile.

What would you want the state to do?

 

What other option does the state have? Short of removing the child/children from the parents...

 

You're not far off, however. The kids who are unmotivated (and, yes, most of the time, that comes from the attitudes they feed off of at home) drag the other kids down. It happens all the time.

I see it a lot at the school where I teach now. But it was especially prevalent when I taught in Louisiana. It was sad, really.

 

Full disclosure (now that I've gotten some responses):

My wife is a 4th grade teacher at one of the schools that is failing but isn't being taken over in EBR (Greenville Elementary). She has the task of trying to get the kids to pass the LEAP. Her job is more one of motivation than anything. There are a lot of kids that really care and want to do well, but there are also several that were indoctrinated throughout there life that education isn't important. Many just have the attitude of why should I care. Very difficult to reach kids with this attitude, but she's doing her best.

My stance on the take over is that something probably does need to be done, but I feel the state's jumping in to take over the schools with no plan for how they will turn the schools around. It is obvious that the parish has had long enough to do something about it, and something should probably be done, but I think the state will do a worse job than what's been done already.

My other issue is this: Two years ago, EBR proposed a two year plan to turn the schools around. This plan was approved by the state. However, less than a year into the plan, the state took one of the high schools in EBR. This year, before seeing what results are after two full years of the plan, the state's already decided they're taking 8 more schools. My issue is, if you're going to approve a two year plan, GIVE IT TWO YEARS!

Hopefully, for the kids sake, the state can do a better job, but they've proven nothing yet to make me think they will. As everyone else has already stated, the problem is at home. With that being the issue, it won't matter who's running the schools, it won't help. You've got to figure out how to make kids that don't care, care. It'll be tough, whoever is doing it.