State school superintendent receives mixed reception

By MIKE NIXON

mike@tri-parishtimes.com

State Superintendent of Education John White has received mixed reactions to his Louisiana Believes program and new state laws impacting educators.

Conducting a seminar before 26 administrators, school board members and observers at the Terrebonne Parish School District offices last Tuesday, White laid out a plan that he said places more control and responsibility in local hands. He also attempted to dispel rumors regarding education reform among public schools.

White said many of the problems associated with public education in Louisiana were rooted in attempts to impose a one-size-fits-all model on all school districts.

With his plan, individual district superintendents and principals, while still required to meet academic standards, would be offered greater autonomy in course curriculum, employee compensation and retention of only the highest performing instructors.

The state superintendent said regardless of rumor, teachers with existing tenure will have that protected under his plan, but only to the degree that student success supports their presence in the classroom.

“The biggest shift … is that [school] districts must, according to law by Sept. 1, adopt a reduction force policy that says, ‘We are going to look at the effectiveness in the classroom, as well as the license area of the teacher when we do a reduction.’”

White said this performance-based method would move staffing decisions beyond a last-hired first-fired approach to one of keeping the most effective teachers while eliminating low performers when cuts are necessary.

White also revealed that by Jan. 1, 2013, school districts will be required to update compensation plans. District programs can respect elements such as classroom demands on individual instructors, high accountability and years of experience.

He also said that while retirement compensation for some support staff was reduced with state budget cuts, those changes do not impact teachers.

White said his belief in achievement is based on the idea that pre-kindergarten education be academic in nature, preparing young children to enter public school ready to achieve.

“We have legislation that allows us to say, ‘There is one set of academic standards, whether it is daycare, whether it is Head Start … whatever program it is,’” White said.

That standard means adopting common core standards, according to White. Common core standards include testing that would see school districts compete not only among other state districts, but will compare Louisiana students to those from other states.

Standardized tests including Louisiana Education Assessment Program, End of Course testing and the Graduation Exit Examination will be replaced with the national Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers program by the 2014-15 school year.

White said he wants to see students challenged at younger ages to achieve higher performance levels in high school. “Let’s get our kids taking algebra in middle school,” he said. “Let’s get our kids the most rigorous work possible. Our new accountability system tries to promote that.”

The state superintendent said public education should be designed to help students either continue to college or enter the workforce.

White said that based on his plan the best performing schools will be those that coordinate efforts with existing business.

“You have in the bayou region probably the strongest industry sector of any part of our state,” he said. “Whether it is oil and gas, ship building, construction engineering, you have a tremendously strong industry sector. So, if you are going to prepare kids for careers in reality, you’ve got to ask industry itself to come in a help train our kids. That is why we have invited corporations in to provide career training for the future. They know best what the jobs of the future are.”

White added that in addition to preparing students for the workforce, they also need to be equipped to enter college-level work. “When our kids are getting to college in Louisiana, we are not graduating enough of them, because [the demands are] beyond what they have been given,” he said.

“Teaching is not a compliance activity,” White explained. “Teaching is a creative activity. We’ve got to get beyond a day when teachers are simply compliers … to bureaucrats in Baton Rouge.”

“He is a smooth talker,” Terrebonne Parish School Board member Don Duplantis said following White’s presentation. “He knows how to sell his message.”

Duplantis was among a select number of school officials that said they have seen school plans come-and-go with little meaningful change, and have questions regarding White’s proposals.

Terrebonne Parish School Board President L.P. Bordelon said those with apprehensions have been conditioned by past years when new policies were announced but never fully implemented.

Terrebonne Parish School Board member Brenda Babin said she has concerns regarding the interpretation of details in law regarding public education, including termination of employees.

“There are still many questions [with state school reform],” Babin said. “Many of the questions will have to be answered by lawyers, not by us, because I’m not sure we are qualified to interpret some of the law.”

“[White’s presentation] was very helpful in terms of understanding what’s coming down,” Bordelon said. “It resolved some of the apprehension I had. This is a new ballgame.”

“Superintendent White is very articulate and communicates his vision very effectively,” Terrebonne Parish School District Superintendent Philip Martin said.

Martin said he wanted to convey a message to teachers and the public that corrects misconceptions. “The most important part is to get the message out,” he said. “That is our initial mission.”

White said that while some of the new mandates may sound drastic, Terrebonne educators should remember that they have “been a very good example for the rest of the state in terms of honoring teachers that go above and beyond.”

Responding to apprehension on the part of educators, White said it is a matter of talking to people and clearing up misinformation, and that tops his agenda.