Guest Essay on Education Reform
By: Bryan Alleman, M.Ed.
Puzzled by the all-of-a-sudden outside interest in Louisiana education politics, I decided to examine a few key metropolitan areas in the United States with pro charter school environments. Each has a suspiciously coincidental connection to the forces changing and profiting from Louisiana’s dramatically turbulent educational landscape. My goal is to determine the relevance of the current charter school movement in Louisiana and its feasibility as a method for improving student achievement in our state.
Before proceeding, it is important to note a phenomenon reported by the American Association of School Administrators called the 95/5 dilemma. The AASA describes how many school leaders have been seduced into abandoning common sense approaches due to an overwhelming emphasis on poor results on standardized tests by a tiny portion of the whole student body—roughly five percent. It is alarming that such a small portion of the
Puzzled by the all-of-a-sudden outside interest in Louisiana education politics, I decided to examine a few key metropolitan areas in the United States with pro charter school environments. Each has a suspiciously coincidental connection to the forces changing and profiting from Louisiana’s dramatically turbulent educational landscape. My goal is to determine the relevance of the current charter school movement in Louisiana and its feasibility as a method for improving student achievement in our state.
Before proceeding, it is important to note a phenomenon reported by the American Association of School Administrators called the 95/5 dilemma. The AASA describes how many school leaders have been seduced into abandoning common sense approaches due to an overwhelming emphasis on poor results on standardized tests by a tiny portion of the whole student body—roughly five percent. It is alarming that such a small portion of the
