Louisiana Educator: State Takeover Schools Produce Low ACT Scores

Louisiana Educator: State Takeover Schools Produce Low ACT Scores:

State Takeover Schools Produce Low ACT Scores

This report is based on data provided by the Louisiana Department of Education.

The following are important questions that should be asked concerning the proper use of our taxes and the management of our public schools:

Is it good policy to allow the Louisiana State Department of Education to take over schools from our locally elected school boards? Can the state really do a better job of running schools than locally elected school boards? Why have the leaders in the states of Michigan and Tennessee been led to believe that a state recovery school district modeled after the one in Louisiana is a great way to improve student achievement?

The underlying assumption that justifies takeover recovery districts is that the takeover schools will improve the performance of their students. Otherwise it does not make sense to allow a state government to take over schools established by local citizens through their locally elected school boards. My post of December 13 pointed out that average student performance as measured by LEAP tests in Recovery District schools rank among the lowest in the state, even after 5 to 8 years of state control.

Another way to judge the effectiveness of school takeover is by comparing ACT scores of students. 2013 is the first year that all eligible students at each public high school in Louisiana were required to take the ACT test. I wanted to examine how state run schools performed compared to local school board operated