Letters to the Editor

It’s time to decide high-stakes testing fate in Louisiana’s public schools

Dear Editor,

As members of the State Board of Education (BESE, the “Board of Elementary and Secondary Education”), we have requested a special meeting of BESE to address the concerns of school districts being punished for students who choose to opt out of PARCC testing. Unfortunately, our request was denied by BESE President Chas Roemer. (Six BESE members must agree to a special meeting.)

An item has been added to the March BESE agenda; however, we believe the concerns are too significant to delay until March. There are OPT-Out meetings currently being scheduled in communities across our state.

We have received numerous emails and phone calls from parents and educators seeking information regarding an opt- out of testing option. Many of the questions asked are valid; yet, school officials, including BESE members, don’t have responses. Education in Louisiana is in a state of confusion.

Parents have expressed their concerns and intentions to opt their children out of PARCC testing this spring. Schools MUST not be penalized for a variable they can’t control. There is a solution to this AND BESE can provide the solution. School districts and schools should not be assigned punitive consequences: zeros in 2014-2015 for students choosing not to participate in PARCC tests. There should be a suspension of letter grades due to the untimely guidance and changes to the assessment guides and the release of practice test items that were received as late as the end of January, 2015. The “build the plane as you fly it” sentiment continues with educators not truly knowing “the destination.” Because this is the first administration of the PARCC assessment in Louisiana, many school officials, educators, and parents have valid fears, particularly, when it is a known fact that there was a 70 percent failure rate in New York.

Why would we disenfranchise our parents, teachers and administrators by saying “no” to a special meeting? We urge you to join with us to encourage BESE to approve a special meeting. Why would a Board refuse to call a meeting to address these concerns?

If you haven’t contacted your BESE member, you should do so immediately.

Your voice will make the difference.

Lottie P. Beebe, Ed. D.,

District 3 BESE Member

Mary Harris,

District 4 BESE Member

Carolyn Hill,

District 8 BESE Member

Jane Smith,

Member-at-Large, Caddo Parish

————————————-

STHS student’s act of kindness renews reader’s hope

Dear Editor,

Good Grief! America is in such a mess that I often wonder what is going to become of this great nation. Our teenagers, our supposed future, are getting hooked on drugs, killing themselves and others in drunk driving accidents or just dropping out of school to become burdens on society or their families. It’s depressing.

Then, on Wednesday, I attended the Mardi Gras Tableaux at South Terrebonne High School and witnessed that (now famous) simple act of kindness when Landon Trahan, the senior crowned as Mardi Gras king, took off his crown and gave it to his friend, Blair Luke.

Luke, disabled and wheel-chair bound, just beamed.

Oh yes, I cried with everyone else. How could you not? But, for me, it was more than that gesture from a young man with a heart of gold. It was seeing America’s future in ALL THOSE KIDS up on that stage. The kids who not only stay in school but are engaged in school. Their joyous camaraderie and obvious pride in their school will translate to their community and our country. I left filled with hope again.

America will be all right if we are raising young people like these.

And, by the way, kudos to all the parents, family and friends that filled that auditorium. It’s your kids I’m talking about here. They participate because YOU participate!

Cherie Holton

Bourg, La