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Sunday, November 8, 2009
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Dropout bill nearing final legislative resolution
Travis Spradling/The Advocate
State Sen. Robert Kostelka, left, R-Monroe, speaks at a news conference at the State Capitol on June 8 about the dropout rate in Louisiana public high schools. He and state Rep. Jim Fannin, right, D-Jonesboro, have identical bills in progress that seek to trim the droput rate.
The Legislature is poised to enact a law that would lower state education standards for some students in hopes of reducing Louisiana’s public high school dropout rate.
Backers contend the dropout problem is so serious that new ideas are required.
Sen. Bob Kostelka, R-Monroe and sponsor of one of the proposals, said the plan is aimed at keeping students from quitting school with no job skills.
“All you are doing is giving another track, another opportunity to kids who are not going to four-year colleges,” Kostelka said.
But critics argue that the proposals represent a significant rollback of state education benchmarks that have won national applause.
The plan would let some students enter the ninth grade, and pursue the new curriculum, even if they fail a test called LEAP, which eighth-graders are required to pass for promotion.
“Certainly this is a significant retreat on high-stakes testing and high-stakes testing is the backbone of the accountability system,” said state Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek.
The proposals under scrutiny are Senate Bill 259 and House Bill 612, which are identical. One is expected to win final approval before adjournment on June 25, possibly this week.
The measures enjoy wide popularity in both chambers and are backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal.
They are aimed at high school students in danger of quitting high school.
About 180,000 attend public high schools in Louisiana.
The dropout rates range from about 33 percent to 38 percent, according to various studies.
The legislation would offer students a new curriculum to help prepare them for a career, technical school or a community college.
Those who meet the requirements would earn a “career diploma.”
Only three other states now offer a career and technical education diploma.
The chief controversy is whether the state should soften existing rules for entering high school and taking the new curriculum aimed at a work-ready diploma.
The LEAP test is designed to make sure students master basic math and English skills before they are promoted.
LEAP stands for Louisiana Educational Assessment Program.
Under the bill, some eighth-graders could fail the math or English test and still enter the ninth-grade and pursue the new curriculum.
“We just think this is fundamentally wrong,” said Barry Erwin, president of the Council for a Better Louisiana, which is a non-profit group.
“It is also the first foot in the door of trying to water down our accountability standards,” Erwin said of the bills.
Officials of The Public Affairs Research Council oppose the proposal and made the same argument.
“If a student has not mastered the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary to move up to the ninth grade, it is hard to see how he or she would succeed in earning any high school diploma – career major or otherwise – or how he or she would succeed in the job market,” PAR said in a special report last month.
In 2008, students had to score at least 42 percent on the English exam to pass LEAP and 39 percent on math.
Pastorek predicts LEAP failures will shoot up once students realize they do not have to pass to enter the ninth grade.
“They know they are going to get through,” he said.
Kostelka disagrees.
“This bill takes care of those kids who don’t pass LEAP or can’t pass LEAP and still give them a chance to get a diploma,” he said.
“Only 20 percent of our high school graduates go to a four-year college. What happens to the others?” Kostelka asked.
The bills also represent a rare case where lawmakers, not the state school board, would spell out course requirements that high school students would have to fulfill for a career diploma.
High school students who pursue a traditional college preparatory curriculum are required to earn four units each of math, English, science and social studies/social sciences.
Others can pursue a less rigorous curriculum.
Under the bills, students would be offered a third option.
They would be required to earn four units of English, with wide latitude on two of them, and four math credits, some of which could be similar to technical math classes.
The plan requires three science credits, two of which would be tied to career plans; three social studies credits; and at least seven other credits that relate to their career plans.
Pastorek said about 1,400 eighth-graders last year scored at levels where they could be affected. However, students also have to be 15, or set to turn 15 during the next school year, to qualify.
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