Louisiana: Still Ranking Low in Education.

Some disturbing articles from Will Sentell in The Advocate present a dark outlook on education in Louisiana.

The Department of Education has said that Louisiana ranks 47th in the nation for high school graduation rates. In 2007, 61.3% of high school students graduated on time in Louisiana. The whole "on time" meaning that the students took the average 4 years to graduate. As Mr. Sentell says, "Only three states had lower rates that year: Nevada at 52 percent; South Carolina, 58.9 percent; and New Mexico, 59.1 percent." In the nation, the average is 73.9% with Vermont ranking the highest with 88.6% of on time graduates.

Something else that should and needs to be noted is the difference between the Caucasian and African American students. In the report, 71.3% of Caucasian students graduate on time, whereas 49.9% of African Americans graduate on time.

Another disturbing fact is that Louisiana ranks the highest in the country for 9th grade drop out rates at 8.3%.

Along with the low "on time" graduation rates, Will Sentell wrote another article about math rates on Louisiana.  The results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress "show fourth-graders are 48th in the U.S. in math and eighth-graders are 45th, said Scott Norton, assistant superintendent for the state Department of Education." Here are some statistics from the report:

• Fourth-graders earned an average score of 229 out of 500, down from 230 last year.
• The national average is 239, the same as last year.
• Eighth-graders earned an average score of 272, the same as last year.
• The national average is 282, up two points from last year.
  

In a nut shell what does this say? Louisiana is still ranking low and there haven't been improvements. As a native to Louisiana this is so frustrating. "Scott Norton, assistant superintendent for the state Department of Education said, 'It is disappointing to see that we didn’t grow.'" It is a lot more than disappointing. It is appalling. The other thing that frustrates me is the common belief that it is just okay. My parents are visiting me and when I told my dad about the statistics between blacks and whites in graduating on time, he said, "Are you really surprised?" No, I'm not, but that should not stop you from finding it terrible that it is still there. We have to still be angry when we see things like this and not apathetic. Apathy does not lead to change, it leads to acceptance of the same problems.