Education change – Editorial

It is impossible to make the case that Louisiana’s current model of public education is an effective one. It’s healthy to debate solutions, but failure to make bold changes simply can’t be an option considering 1) the tragic rate of poverty in this state and in East Baton Rouge Parish, 2) too many public school districts are failing to provide even a basic education and the state’s top-performing districts rank as merely mediocre when compared to the rest of the nation and 3) we can’t afford to lose another generation of children to a life of ignorance.

Like his brand of reform or not, Gov. Bobby Jindal has put forth dramatic ideas to reverse the 50-year negative trend of public K-12 education in Louisiana. Jindal’s plan promotes the expansion of charter schools and vouchers (scholarships), giving more authority to principals (while reducing that of school board members) and overhauling teacher tenure laws. No doubt, it is controversial; indeed some aspects of the plan may not work, but at least the governor is aggressively attacking a problem that should be an embarrassment to every citizen of this state.

The response from those protective of the current model suggests progress is being made and with more time and more money that everything will eventually be all right. It’s true, there have been some gains made in education outcomes, but those improvements are not happening fast enough and frankly, throwing more money at the problem is not the answer.

The answer rests with the one-two punch of overhauling an antiquated education system while at the same time getting serious about Louisiana’s poverty problem.

If someone has a proposal better than Jindal’s, now is the time to put it forth. In the meantime, let’s stop defending a system that’s hopelessly broken and focus the debate on the merits of the legitimate solutions that the governor is proposing. What we can’t do is wait any longer for change. Our children deserve better—much better.