by: JON GLOVER OP / ED
Caddo Parish Schools makes up twelve districts with twelve individuals representing those districts. Caddo Parish Schools also has 30 schools ranked D and F. Some 56 schools, and 30 ranked D and F, where is the outcry.
At Tuesday’s Executive Committee meeting of the Caddo Parish Schools, there was no mention of the 30 schools ranked D or F. The Executive Committee meeting yielded not one member of the board inquiring about the school(s) in their district that ranks D and F. Every district, except one, has one or more schools in their district that is representative of the ranking of D and F.
When will your elected official ask the superintendent for an update regularly about the schools in your district that have the ranking of D and F? When will you hold your school board representative accountable for the schools in your district that are not meeting the academic needs of these boys and girls who attend these D and F schools?
When Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001, its purpose was to ensure that students in every public school achieve important learning goals. Do those 30 school signify such has being achieved? ESSA replaced NCLB, and its focus was for K-12 general education. Why the words “general education” under ESSA? Under ESSA, each state gets to set its own “general education” standards and coursework for schools. The coursework requires that all students learn in each grade, and the standards set are challenging in areas of reading, math and science. However, here is the million-dollar question: Those students who attend the 30 D and F schools, are they equipped to meet ESSA’s requirement?
If the students relegated to the 30 institutions of learning ranked D and F are to be saved, efforts have to begin now. There is no more waiting for tomorrow. There is no more taking excuses or justifications for why not. There’s no more time than like now to begin holding all of us accountable for the performance of every child here in Caddo Parish.
Therefore, you have much to consider when attending the Executive Committee meeting of the Caddo Parish School Board. You have to consider if the boys and girls — every boy and girl — is worthy of being saved academically.
You get to decide if you are willing to hold your elected official accountable. You get to decide if you are going to hold the Superintendent accountable. You decide if you are going to hold you accountable. You decide if you are going to hold your child accountable. Louisiana Believes is a great resource that demonstrates what, how every school in our parish ranks. Take a tour via www.louisianabeleieves.com and see how you can affect a school system that needs all of us to save all of our children.
That old saying “It takes a village to raise a child” is true in its own right. It is essential that the basics of teaching begins at home and spreads abroad. With an every changing world, equipping our boys and girls with proper skills and skillsets can help them achieve academically.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE March 6 ISSUE OF THE INQUISITOR.