Happy New Year!

My wish for the new year is that Louisiana education will begin an era of true reform. This would include restoring the trust of our policy makers in real professional educators, reducing he abuses of standardized testing, and a recognition that poverty, not ineffective teachers, is the primary factor adversely affecting the performance of students. Our policy makers need to stop trying to apply one-size-fits all standards that cannot do anything but hurt many students. It is time to stop blaming educators for factors over which they have no control and to instead utilize our energy and resources truly addressing the needs of our at-risk students with the goal of educating each student to her/his greatest potential.