DAN JUNEAU – The LABI Report

This week, Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s blue ribbon commission on education policy, the Transition Education Policy Council, presented the governor with recommendations on how her administration could continue to improve public education in Louisiana. Creating an educated populace and a skilled workforce were cornerstones of Governor Blanco’s campaign, and she pledged to honor those commitments to Louisiana’s citizens.

The Council’s recommendations mirror many of the initiatives business has actively supported for years, including early childhood learning; teacher quality; strengthening the state’s public education accountability program; lowering the high school dropout rate; developing a comprehensive plan for post-secondary education that includes both skills training and academic learning; rigorous four-year university admission requirements; and targeting workforce training funds more efficiently to employee and employer needs and the demands of the economy.

This is a tall order, granted, but the good news is that we’ve already put into place many of the reforms that could produce desired results. In some aspects, such as the state’s accountability program, we’ve even become a model for other states. We’ve experienced some success, and the Council’s recommendations seek to build on that success and ratchet up expectations to the next level. However, we still have a long way to go.

In 2003, only 71 percent of the state’s 10th grade students who took the Graduate Exit Exam passed the English/Language Arts portion of the test. Sixty-eight percent passed the Math section.

Fourth and eighth grade test takers in 2003 fared no better. Only 59 percent of fourth grade students scored at Basic or above in English/Language Arts, and 58 percent were Basic or above in Math. At the eighth grade level, 52 percent scored at Basic or above in English/Language Arts, and 47 percent received that grade in Math. (The achievement levels are Advanced, Mastery, Basic, Approaching Basic and Unsatisfactory.)

Higher education has challenges all its own. In 2002, 40 percent of public school graduates who attended college had to take non-credit remediation courses. That same year, the graduation rate (six-year) from public colleges and universities was a low 39 percent.

Governor Blanco and her transition team are to be applauded for staying the course on education reform. Too many governors have taken office, scrapped the programs in place and attempted to reinvent the educational wheel. Or worse, they tried to undo reforms, which would have turned back the clock in a state already struggling to catch up.

Governor Blanco has stated that she believes that education is economic development. Few would disagree. We know that companies examine a state’s education system as a key factor in deciding whether or not to locate in that state.

So, the real question is, when will all of these reforms, initiatives and programs translate into student learning and begin to produce educational opportunities for every child? Only when we are able to answer this question will we be able to effectively market the Bayou State and bring in the business and industry that are looking for a trained and able workforce.

DAN JUNEAU is president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.