"LAFAYETTE — Within the next 30 days, the Louisiana Department of Education will post “succinct” district-level data to better educate the public about the state of their schools, said state schools Superintendent Paul Pastorek on Tuesday.
While data is available on the state Web site, it’s not exactly user-friendly for the average parent or layperson.
The intention is to “create a guide for Joe Six-Pack to go to a school board and ask questions,” Pastorek said. “… You have to step up armed with information and change the dialogue.”"
Pastorek spoke Tuesday in Lafayette as part of The Independent Weekly’s lecture series. The majority in the audience of about 100 were either educators or members of the business community.
“What do you want for Lafayette? I promise you what you’re getting is what you want,” Pastorek said.
Communities across the state need to ask the tough questions of their board members if they want to see dramatic changes, Pastorek said.
He used N.P. Moss Middle School as an example. For the second year in a row, the school’s performance scores fell below 60 and earned it an academically unacceptable label.