Tagged: education

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana's Department of Education says the state's annual dropout rate has fallen for three years in a row. A department news release says the percentage of dropouts in seventh- through 12th grades decreased from 3.5 in 2009-2010 to 3.1 in 2010-2011. That means 1,100 more students chose to stay in school. 

Construction of four new schoolhouses should be completed as classes resume in August, education officials announced Wednesday night, but modular buildings are ready just in case.

Capital projects, including ground-up school construction, highlighted Wednesday night’s meeting in New Orleans of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The board meets periodically in New Orleans — Wednesday’s meeting was at Walter L. Cohen High School — to address Recovery School District issues.

If our political fights barely rise above the embarrassing displays of violence within the communities that officials are supposedly serving, then it’s time for a radical change in representation.

At the May 15 Orleans Parish School Board meeting, black angst sparked among fellow members around matters of disrespect in the naming of an interim superintendent. After a round of feinting punches, the board voted along black and non-black lines to name an interim.

State education officials say the percentage of Louisiana public school students reaching "basic" achievement levels on standardized tests grew from 66 percent to 68 percent this year. Statewide, improvement was noted at almost every grade level and every subject.