With the new school year beginning, now is a good time to reflect on where public education is in Louisiana. The seemingly continuous changes with accountability measures since 2012, reported through various media platforms, continue to muddy the waters of understanding for a lot of our stakeholders.

Moreover, the Louisiana Department of Education is slated to release its new scoring matrix this fall. This new matrix is expected to give lesser letter grades for the same scores that received higher letter grades last year. This change is likely to bring another wave of confusion.

With that said, Louisiana’s public schools are stronger today than ever before. The average high school graduation rate increased to 77 percent, which ranks 10th among the 17 states that require all students to take the ACT.

African-American students have improved their performance on the ACT by 40 percent since 2012. Louisiana’s Advanced Placement scores are also up by a resounding 137 percent. And more students are accessing TOPS scholarships.

As the top instructional leaders in education, Louisiana’s school superintendents shoulder the responsibility of ensuring that every employee within their districts fully implement the challenging reforms advocated by state policy makers.

They whole-heartedly believe in the students’ abilities to tackle the more rigorous standards and firmly support the dedicated teachers who are learning how to implement new research-based strategies that positively impact student learning.

These professionals are passionate about the well-being and growth of our children.

They are stepping up to the challenges in our schools, and they deserve our support and encouragement.

It is the collective goal of state superintendents to maintain the focus on student success and ensure every facet of the school district is organized for learning.

Our state superintendents have set high expectations and are excited about the possibilities this new 2018-2019 school year will bring.

Respectfully,

Michael Faulk, executive director

Louisiana Association of School Superintendents