Louisiana grades ‘C-‘ for teacher quality

A national nonprofit advocacy group has given Louisiana a “C-minus” in recruiting and retaining quality teachers and getting rid of those who are ineffective in the classroom. The National Council on Teacher Quality recently released its 2008 State Teacher Policy Yearbook. The report finds that laws and regulations in most states discourage promising new teachers from staying in the classroom while doing little to rid schools of inadequate teachers. The report gives Louisiana a “D-plus” in identifying effective new teachers, a “C” in retaining effective new teachers and a “C-minus” in getting rid of ineffective new teachers. The council found that most states are doing a poor job of retaining good, new teachers. South Carolina had the highest overall grade, with a “B-minus,” and four states got failing grades: Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and Vermont. See the report here.