Educators from across Louisiana expressed deep concerns with the state’s new school-rating system during a packed public hearing Monday on the controversial changes.
It’s been two months since the state board of education approved the overhaul, but many are still worried.
Of the 26 school and district leaders who spoke, nearly all argued that the revised rating system places too much emphasis on test scores while downgrading the importance of college readiness and career education. They also predicted the changes will drive down the ratings of even the state’s best-graded schools.
“To say we’re discouraged by what’s to come is an understatement,” said Hennessy Melancon, principal at Golden Meadow Middle School in Lafourche Parish.
In June, the board voted in favor of a major overhaul of Louisiana’s school accountability system, which sets goals for student achievement, identifies struggling schools and assigns every school with an A-F letter grade. The new system will take effect in 2026.
Monday’s hearing took place during a 90-day window in which individuals can give their input on newly-passed BESE policies before the changes are officially adopted. More than 40 people submitted comments before the hearing opposing the new accountability system.
Michael Faulk, executive director of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, said his organization and the Louisiana School Board Association requested the hearing to give principals and superintendents the chance to provide personal testimony on how the updates will impact their districts and students.
The revamped system is meant to be easier to understand by giving equal weight to each measure of school quality. It also gives schools more credit for helping students improve their test scores, and it dramatically alters the grading system for high schools.
State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley, who pushed the changes, said the current system sets the bar too low for student achievement.
The new model “better prepares students for life beyond high school,” he said after the hearing.
But many public education leaders have spoken out against the revisions, arguing that they incentivize schools to prepare students for high-stakes tests rather than careers.
Bill Thompson, a high school agricultural science teacher from Calcasieu Parish, said that under the new model, vocational courses like his will drop from accounting for 25% of a school’s score to 8.3%. He said the changes belie officials’ claim to want to elevate career education.
“These numbers certainly do not reflect that,” he testified Monday.
Jennifer Regard, principal at the Iberia Parish Career Center, said the de-emphasis on vocational training would demoralize her students, who sometimes struggle in traditional classes but find it empowering to develop job skills.
“We’re taking things away from our children,” she said, “instead of encouraging them and promoting them where they are.”
Faulk, with the superintendent’s group, said his organization submitted policy suggestions to BESE before its vote that weren’t considered. He said he hopes board will now be open to revisiting those suggestions.
“Before you implement a wholesale change to a system,” he said, “take into consideration those unintended consequences.”
Brumley and the three board members in attendance said little throughout the meeting, which was intended for the public to provide feedback that the board will later respond to in writing. At the end, president Ronnie Morris thanked everyone who spoke and said other members had tuned in to watch remotely.
“We realize, as we hope you do too, there is no perfect system,” Morris said. “But we do want to work with everyone to come up with the best that we can.”
Editor's note: This story has been updated with more information about the meeting format.