Superintendents debate over how Louisiana high schools should be graded

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Changes are on the way regarding how schools are graded in Louisiana. But many superintendents oppose the new plan.

“We need to do something. We've been talking about accountability for 20 years," said Carolyn Runner, executive director for the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools.

Louisiana Superintendent for Education Cade Brumley is demanding to make adjustments to the state's accountability formula, ultimately changing how schools are graded.

"70% of our high schools are rated A and B, we can't read, but we are A and B high schools. It does not sync up. It does not make sense," said Runner.

But superintendents from all over the state have concerns about the proposed plans. The Louisiana Association of School Superintendents President Patrick Jenkins said it leaves too many people behind, and not every child wants to go to college.

"There are some cases where students that will be graduating high school diploma would not get any points at all. Looking at how the alignment is with ACT and other criteria," explained Jenkins.

Another issue is making sure there is equity for disabled students. However, CEO of Council for a Better Louisiana Barry Erwin believes the new accountability system does exactly that. It gives more people a better chance to learn and go to college.

"We also think it did a good job of trying to put a focus on our lowest-performing kids, provide additional incentives for our schools to grow those kids, and get those kids to the grade level where we know that they need to be. I think the college and career readiness component was also a strong one," he said.

Many educators agree, that there is a need for a new accountability system but superintendents say this plan is not the best.

"I am ready for people to come to the table with a plan. Don't tell me what you don't like about it. Tell me how you're going to fix the problem that we clearly have," said Runner.

Educators passed the new accountability system for grades kindergarten through second. It will go into effect in 2024. The board will spend the next two months discussing a better accountability system for grades three through 12. They will reconvene in October.