BusinessReport.com

Posted on September 25 at 10:55 p.m.

This letter from CABL is rather interesting. No where do they mention that other school systems in the state are doing exactly the same thing that EBR has proposed. They also fail to fully explain that students who attend Alternative and Remedial School Sites in the EBR school system have their scores route back to their home school. Why can’t they do the same for the higher achieving students who are in magnet programs?
Additionally CABL left out information which points to statements from a State Department of Education staffer that were made in an article printed in the Times-Picayune in September 2007. This staffer was talking about Jefferson Parish routing scores back to home schools from magnet schools.
Scott Norton, director of standards, assessments and accountability for the state Department of Education, said routing scores back to attendance-district schools is not unusual.
"This is one place where the accountability policy provides some local flexibility, which we feel is important," he said. "Some magnet schools route the scores, and some don't. Neither method is considered right or wrong, and whether one or the other gives a false impression would be a matter of opinion."
I wonder why EBR is the only school that is getting beat up by the DOE for doing what other school systems across the state are doing.

On Cooking the Books on School Accountability

Posted on September 25 at 10:47 p.m.

I have been following this closely and have a couple of questions that I guess need to be answered by someone with knowledge.

Why are scores from Discipline Centers and other remedial sites in the school system sent back to a student’s home schools, especially when those students are not even at their home school? There are actually students who never set foot on a school campus, but because they lived in the attendance zone at one time, the zero he gets for not taking the test is sent to that school. Why can't the scores stay at a site where this student is actually taught? If they do this with magnet schools, why can't they do this with other school sites?
Why is it acceptable for the State Department of Education to allow other school districts do this exact same thing, but not EBR? In an article that was published in the Times-Picayune on Sept. 4, 2007, a State Department of Education staffer is quoted as saying that routing scores back to attendance-district schools ‘is not unusual.’
"This is one place where the accountability policy provides some local flexibility, which we feel is important," said Scott Norton director of standards, assessments and accountability for the state Department of Education. "Some magnet schools route the scores, and some don't. Neither method is considered right or wrong, and whether one or the other gives a false impression would be a matter of opinion."
If this is what a high ranking official said in a news article less than a year ago, why is it so bad for EBR to do what Jefferson Parish is doing?
This to me sounds like what Mr. Pastorek accuses EBR of doing, changing rules in the middle of a game.
So I guess my question is, why can other School Districts do exactly what EBR is planning to do? Where was the outrage from the State Superintendent directed at these Districts?
It is really sad education and politics mix. We can see that result here in EBR where Advance Baton Rouge has allowed noting but fights to occur on their campus. Instead of solving the problems at those schools, the main players at Advance Baton Rouge are still playing….playing with our students. I hear 2-3 students and teachers approach the EBR school system every other day wanting to return to the EBR School System.
I truly believe that some charters can really make a positive impact on students who need that more than even, but I don’t think Advance Baton Rouge is the institution that can deliver that. They already failed in the over-age school that they created last year. They walked away from it at the end of the year. Exactly what has ABR advanced?

On A numbers game

Posted on August 1 at 8:08 a.m.

Question......why didn't the "Jounalist" contact someone like abc to allow them to talk about their experiences? Fair and Balanced reporting? Yea, just like the "Faux News Network." Another hit piece from Rolfie Boy.

And here is a question for him.....Please let the public know the last time you actually walked through the front doors of a public school here in EBR to really find out what is going on in the classroom? Now THAT would be a story.

On Letter

Posted on July 31 at 7:51 p.m.

"Apparently this is an issue that very few people outside of this website care about. The Advocate, WBRZ and WAFB are aware of the claims leveled by Mrs. Berkholz, and yet no mention of the letter."

How do you know that the real media outlet didn't contact the school system to get their side of the story (unlike this outfit) do their research, and reach the conclusion that this is really not a news story?

Yet more proof that Rolfie Boy has an agenda against the school system.

And if the school system were to respond to all the falsehoods written about it in this rag, the would have to hire a full time person. Not a good way to spend tax payer money.

On Letter

Posted on July 28 at 8:42 p.m.

Again, really no need to "Suck it." In order to save on energy related bills, during the summer the school system is open from 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Monday - Thursday allowing for a 40 hour work week in 4 days. The offices are closed on Fridays. This was such a "News Alert" that the "Journalist" could not have waited to confirm a lot of these accusations before going to print? I think a respectable "journalists" would have a least talked to someone at the school system before running simple accusations.

In addition, what he failed to mention is that hiring of teachers from the Philippines is not just occurring in Baton Rouge. Jefferson Parish just hired over 60. Even Houma hired 3.

The reason the Philippines are such an active recruiting ground is because the education system in the Philippines is very similar to the education system here in the US. Most of the teachers teach in the field of Math, Science and Special Education. Did you notice that for the first time in years, the EBR school system did not have to declare a “Critical Shortage” in these hard to fill subjects? This is mainly due to the international teachers.

It doesn’t really matter to this publication one way or the other. Had the EBR school system hired all 300 candidates from LRCE, the Business Report would have questioned why they spent over $300,000 paying for teachers when they can get them without any cost attached coming out of traditional colleges of education. They close office over the summer, but they get beat up because there was no one there to return the phone calls that were placed an hour before the “News Alert” was sent. It really is a no win situation for the school system.

On Letter

Posted on July 28 at 8:06 p.m.

Well that’s great....only means that all of those candidates either from traditional colleges of education, LRCE, TFA, or International teachers are all good candidates. Good for EBR to find these quality teachers and candidates. And better, this is great for the children in the school system. Really no need to "Suck on that" just wanted to make sure that information that the writer did not include in his original story got out to the public.

Thank you Joe for being so knowledgeable on this subject, at least you are taking the time to learn about the issues.

On Letter

Posted on July 28 at 6:26 p.m.

While the school system does not have an official agreement with LRCE, the number of candidates from LRCE that were placed in the EBR school system rose by almost 65% over the previous year. Last year, the school system placed 26 candidates from LRCE, this year 43 were placed. LRCE is a state-wide program that is based in EBR Parish. Does any other school district hire as many LRCE candidates as the EBR school System? Are the new charter schools hiring these candidates?

All out of state teachers, including international teachers have three years in which to take the PRAXIS. Again, as I understand it, all of the Philippine teachers who took that PRAXIS thus far have passed. That is 100% of those teachers who took the PRAXIS passed. What is the pass rate for LRCE? What is the success rate for LRCE teachers not only in the EBR system, but all systems where their candidates are placed?

In addition, the teachers from the Philippines must have three years teaching experience before they were hired by the school system and over 75% of those hired by the school system hold advanced degrees.

Again, there is no cost to the school system at all. No cost to fly the international teachers to EBR, while the cost to the EBR school system is $1,000 when they hire candidates from LRCE. They have already paid $43,000 to LRCE. If they were to hire all LRCE candidates, the school system would pay over $300,000.

Please don’t get me wrong. I think those who choose alternative paths to teaching are great. It really takes a special kind of person to become a teacher these days, not matter what route you take to the classroom. But I think that LRCE had too many candidates this year and does not know what to do with them.

How do I know all of this information that was not included in the “News Alert”? Simple, I called the school system and asked questions. Something I suggest the “Journalist” who wrote the origianl story do next time he wants to write an article regarding the school system.

On Letter

Posted on July 27 at 10:13 a.m.

The way NCLB is currently written, each individual state defines what “Highly Qualified” means. All teachers, American and international teachers, what ever country they come from, must pass the same test in order to become “Highly Qualified”, as well as certified. So yes I am saying that these teachers took and passed the “Highly Qualified” test. School systems throughout the country cannot hire teachers who are not, unless there is a declared critical shortage in a specific subject like Special Education, Math or Science. I suspect that if your friend was teaching in one of these three subjects, she would not have been turned down.

While the majority of teachers in the EBR system are from Louisiana, currently the district has teachers from India, Honduras, France, Belgium, Spain, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Canada, as well as most of the 50 AMERICAN states. We are talking about less than 4% of the total teacher population. The majority of teachers are from the area traditional colleges of education. Again, it sounds like LRCE did not plan well enough and has too many graduats for placement. If all the candidate from LRCE were placed anywhere, not just in EBR, they are looking at taking in $272,000. Not a small chunk of change.

Rolfie Boy does not have an agenda against the school system???? When the one cent sales tax renewal was up in March and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber came out in support of the tax late one afternoon, did we see a “News Alert”? Of course not, it was added that afternoon and buried somewhere on the Business Report. (At least he did publish the fact that the chamber did support the renewal, so I guess that’s a step in the right direction.) While he claims to be against any and all elections held in the summer because of the low voter turnout, I still cannot find his editorial this past month where he came out against the vote that took place regarding the Central City Schools. And for someone who takes a shot against EBR every chance he gets, could someone explain to me why he personally calls some of the Principals in the system in order to get his friends child enrolled in an EBR magnet school?

On Letter

Posted on July 26 at 3:35 p.m.

A couple of things to point out that may be helpful in this discussion.

As I understand it, the school system employs close to 3,300 teachers. The 150 teachers the author points out is a small percentage of the overall teaching population. These teachers from the Philippines are mostly placed in hard to staff subjects that include Special Education, Science and Mathematics. This is national problem, not just a local issue. The Philippine teachers are Highly Qualified and Certified as required by No Child Left Behind.

Now, what the reporter failed to mention is that the school system is charged $1,000 per placement of one teacher from the LRCE. Why should the EBR school system pay for this service when they can get teachers from traditional colleges of education as well as through their own in-house alternative certification program for free? There is no fee to hire the teachers from oversees. While there is an increase in the number of candidate going through LRCE, 165 last summer as compared to 272 this summer, I wonder if this has more to do with money. It sounds like this is mostly about poor planning on the part of LRCE. They have too many teachers and they cannot place them. In addition, the reporter failed to mention that not all teachers from LRCE are in fact from Louisiana.

And let’s talk about the supposed surplus that everyone talks about. As they promised they would for the renewal of the one cent sales tax, EBR transferred that surplus into the general account for school construction and a teacher pay increase.

Seems like yet another story by Rolfie boy who has an agenda against the EBR school Systes.

On Letter

Posted on June 27 at 10:07 p.m.

Why isn't Rolfie Boy taking a stance in the Jindal pay raise non-veto? His has his head so far up the Gov's A$$ he can't breathe.

On The search is on