State Superintendent of Education, John White, Visits Monroe
Louisiana’s Superintendent of Education, John White was in Monroe today to visit area schools. On White’s itinerary was Carroll Junior High – a school with a D- rating.
White told reporters the governor’s voucher proposal could help schools like Carroll.
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| John White at Carroll Junior High |
Principal Angela Manning looked forward to Superintendent White’s visit.
"I hope that he sees that even though our letter grade was a D Minus, that D Minus does not really reflect the overall commitment and dedication that we have to student achievement at Carroll Junior High School."
Under Governor Jindal’s proposed education reform, low income students in schools which received a C grade or worse would be eligible for a private school voucher.
“It definitely will have a positive effect because I think that people in the school realize what they’ve already realized, which is that in order to do right by our kids, we’re going to have to step up our game. So Principal Manning here at Carroll Junior High School is already seeing progress. We need to see more. But we can’t get in the way as government of making the choice that parents really need to make for their kids."
The voucher plan has its detractors. State Representative Katrina Jackson says the new system would bring uncertainty to state education.
"I think we have wonderful private schools in Monroe, but they are not under the same accountability measures as a public school. And the students are not under the same individual testing, the new LEAP and all of that. So when you take public dollars and give it to a voucher program, their students are not measured, and so you can never really measure the success rate of a voucher program because the accountability in a public school is different from a private school."
The stop at Carroll Junior High was one of three scheduled visits for Superintendent White today.