An analysis of the latest happenings in the area of Elementary/Secondary education with emphasis on state level policies as they affect teachers and school administrators. Send any comments or suggestions to louisianaeducator@gmail.com
By: Michael Deshotels
Friday, December 21, 2012
Letter to the Baton Rouge Advocate Exposes RSD Snow Job
This letter to the editor of the Baton Rouge Advocate by Dr Mercedes Schneider, copied here verbatim, exposes the fraud perpetrated on the state and nation by the Louisiana Recovery School District. I have included also the comments by readers of The Advocate which I believe has been complicit in supporting the RSD propaganda machine.
Letter: Publicize school letter grades RSD
December 19, 2012
I have been reading about Gov. Bobby Jindal’s promoting the Recovery School District (RSD) as an example of the success of his educational reform package. I am not sure how Jindal qualifies “success” since a disproportionate number of RSD-run schools earned a D or F as a 2012 school performance score. So, I went to the RSD website to see how this issue of “success” might be treated.
Here’s is the RSD tactic: Ignore the school letter grade situation completely.
You read it right. The RSD makes no mention of school letter grades on its website. It does offer links to “school performance” and even uses the term “school performance scores.” The RSD site offers charts and graphs with the numeric school performance scores. Why, then, does the site not include the letter grades?
In 2010, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Penny Dastugue defended the then-new school letter grade system by saying, “People can relate to grades.”
Bingo.
According to the information posted on the Louisiana Department of Education website for 2012, 60 schools are designated as being RSD schools. Out of 60 schools, 51 received a D or F letter grade. None received an A.
Being “transparent” with such information would reveal the truth, and the truth is bad for business.
If the RSD website publicizes its letter grades, then the world will clearly see that the state-run RSD does not live up to what LDOE also continues to promote on its website: “…The Recovery School District (RSD) is a leading reform model for educators around the country and even around the globe as they search for solutions to transform low-performing schools.”
According to LDOE’s own letter grade standard, state-run RSD schools are not “transformed.” The state with its self-proclaimed reformer rhetoric may control these schools, but the state, by its own standard, is failing.
RSD success is a lie.
In order to truly understand what exactly occurs in RSD, state and national media need to travel to New Orleans and other RSD locations and talk to RSD students and parents. The state and national media need to investigate the effects of revolving-door charters on student well being and community stability. The state and national media need to expose the disconnect between what so-called “reformers” are showcasing as success on one hand and hiding via information-twisting and omission on the other.
Mercedes K. Schneider, Ph.D.
applied statistics and research methods
The following are the comments submitted to this letter by readers of The Advocate. Note that they are listed in the reverse order in which they were received.
1) Comment by Bouncer - 12/20/2012
2) Comment by deutsch29 - 12/20/2012
3) Comment by conglo - 12/19/2012
4) Comment by Bouncer - 12/19/2012
5) Comment by Scrooge - 12/19/2012
6) Comment by bourbon-soda - 12/19/2012
7) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 12/19/2012
8) Comment by NearBarbarian - 12/18/2012
9) Comment by tradewinns - 12/18/2012
10) Comment by teacherguy - 12/18/2012
One more note: If my readers would like to see a thorough analysis of the New Orleans Recovery District, just click on this link to an analysis by Research On Reforms which is an independent research group based in New Orleans led by Dr Barbara Ferguson and Charles Hatfield.
I am a retired Louisiana educator who taught science at the secondary level. I also served in various positions with the Louisiana Association of Educators culminating in the position of Executive Director prior to my retirement. More recently I have done research on the dropout problem in Louisiana and as a result helped to draft and pass legislation providing for a career diploma designed primarily for non-college bound students. With this blog I am attempting to inform educators, parents and school board members on the current issues in education from the point of view of an experienced educator