re: St. George vs. EBR Parish: Is Overcrowding the Problem with EBR Schools?

I can't figure out what vested interest LSURussian has in attacking St. George at EVERY turn.

I'm not sure he realizes how irrational he comes off despite his best efforts. It's to the point I bet most people just ignore/disregard his posts on the subject.

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Agreed that it takes time, but what is presently being done, right now, and every single day, to improve public education in BR? The only reason it's being looked at now, is because the people of St. George made an issue of it, and rightly so. Without the St. George issue, the schools would continue to be an oversight. So i'm curious, if there is anyone that posts here that is in the know, what, presently, is being done to fix EBR schools

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Within the past ten years or so the citizens of EBR Parish voted to tax themselves and raise teacher salaries, build new schools, renovate all the old schools, and to improve school discipline.

This was huge because the citizens had not voted for new school taxes in a long time. Results can be seen in the present salaries of teachers (around 50K plus bennies I believe) and all the improved schools around the parish.

Recently the Feds got out of the local school business letting local officials have more of a run. That was good, but I haven't seen many results from this but it's too early to say what is happening.

Jindal on the state level has tried reforms and people are fighting him tooth and nail. The unions are fighting with everything they have.

If you look at test scores I believe there has been some slight improvements made; however, there are still failing schools, schools being taken over by the state, and families are still apprehensive.

Another thing is the old system created gifted and magnet programs at urban schools to entice suburban kids to stay in the system. These schools are still flourishing, but they are not neighborhood schools and if your child is not deemed exceptional you can not attend them. These are quality schools who get a lot of resources and the better teachers. This is great for a child, if they qualify; but not all children do.

I believe all schools should have equal resources and great teachers. Not just the elite ones. But others might disagree.

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However, expecting improvement without change is just plain foolish.

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Then how did the EBR system improve one full letter grade last school year? Maybe changes are already being implemented?

And those changes were not allowed for almost 50 years when the Federal court ran the EBR school system. Now that the suit has been settled, we are seeing improvements.

The improvements are not enough. No one should be happy with having a C rated system, but the system is showing improvement.

And on top of that, the schools in the SG area are among the better schools in that improving school system. Two of the elementary schools are A rated. That's as good as the rating system can score.

I realize this is going to sound racist and I don't mean it that way but it's just the way it is, next year when Lee High reopens and most of the Gardere area students transfer back to their closest high school, Woodlawn HS is going to see a quick and substantial improvement next school year.

I am unclear, anymore, as to what you are arguing now Russian.

Are you saying BR Schools are crowded, or are not crowded? If they are not, what are you basing that off of.

I'm actually conceding to some of your points and you are still fighting me and disagreeing with me as if i'm entrenched on one side, and everything i say is stupid.

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Taking two simple data points, saying the schools went from a D to a C, does NOT constitute a trend.

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Please link to any post in this thread where I claimed it is a trend. If you can't do it......KMA..

Alright, I have done a little bit of research with census data. The following are the tracts found in St. George
45.04
40.11
40.12
40.09
40.06
40.10
38.05
45.07
45.08
45.02

Partial tracts are as follows:
40.07 block 4
39.06 block 3
39.08 block 3
39.03 block 4
45.05 block 2 & 3

I was not able to get the individual blocks to work but it says roughly 16475 kids 5-19 years old in the full tracts and 44,627 of the same age in the city of baton rouge.

I think you can safely add an extra 1,500 kids to st. george from the missing blocks.

The biggest complaints I heard from teachers in EBRPSS is that the kids are flat out unruly. The few that aren't there to learn are able to do whatever they want, unless the teacher takes their instructional time to call them out and reason with them. The is no disciplinary enforcement, by and large. What happened last year? Bernard "The boyfriend" Taylor did away with the Dean of students position across the board. That position was primarily there to discipline kids. No idea how that's a positive change.
Talking to a friend that's a very good teacher for Zachary, I asked her why she rather drive from old Jefferson, across BR, to Zachary every single day. It wasn't the pay, she said. It was the fact that the principal actually values good teachers, and expects them to be creative and teach the best they know how to. And since it's a neighborhood school, the parents are very involved. EBRPSS has no notion of this.

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Are you saying BR Schools are crowded, or are not crowded?

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I have not offered an opinion on that one way or the other. I've said I've tried to find the student-teacher ratio for EBR but have not been able to do so. Did my statement confuse you?

I have asked the SG supporters crying that there are fewer schools in the SG area than they think they deserve to tell me what the student-teacher ratio is for St George schools.

I've never read or heard in the news or even in anything released by the SG organizers saying the SG schools are overcrowded.

So that begs the question, if no one is claiming the SG schools are overcrowded, what is the point of claiming SG needs more schools?

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So that begs the question, if no one is claiming the SG schools are overcrowded, what is the point of claiming SG needs more schools?

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And i'm saying is that i don't know if they are overcrowded. I am asking a genuine question, if they are overcrowded because i do not have kids in school. It's a simple question but you really like being an a-hole in this thread because you see me as the enemy, and every post i make must be contrary to your opinion, in this thread. Which, up until this page was not the situation.

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And i'm saying is that i don't know if they are overcrowded. I am asking a genuine question,

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Look at the title of this thread (which you started). Read the statistics you gave in your thread's first post.

How can your first post starting this thread be interpreted any other way but to conclude you claim SG has been neglected simply because there are more schools in the city than there are in SG using total population numbers as a basis for your claim???

Are you now agreeing with me that the number of schools does not prove that SG has been neglected by the EBR school system and your thread's first post is irrelevant?

And that to arrive at an intelligent conclusion if SG needs more schools we need to know the student-teacher ratio to see if the residents of SG should get additional school facilities?