Schools are showing signs of improvement

We hear a lot about the state of our public schools.

Louisiana, to be sure, has a lot of work to do to catch up to our counterparts across the South and across the U.S.

But we have made some strides in recent years. And our local schools are continuing to make progress on many measures of student success.

The state’s recent release of its school performance scores held some good news for local students, parents, teachers, administrators and taxpayers.

In Lafourche, the aggregate grade for the district went up from 95.8 to 102.2 — a move that took it from a B to an A grade.

That meant Lafourche went up from 16th among the state’s 64 parishes last year to 13th this year.

“We are very proud of this rating,” Lafourche Superintendent Jo Ann Matthews said. “Although school scores may fluctuate yearly, our success is a direct result of the commitment of our teachers, staff, students and parents – and their dedication to high academic standards and the pursuit of excellence.”

In Terrebonne, the district grade increased from 90.5 to 95.1 — still a B grade, but a much higher one.

Its ranking statewide fell from 24th from 25th, but clearly the district is moving in the right direction.

“I’m confident that we are going to reach our goal,” Terrebonne Superintendent Philip Martin said. “There are always challenges but our teachers, our kids, our admins have worked very hard. It’s a very high B and more importantly it has shown significant improvement that we are moving in the right direction.”

The improvements weren’t just at the district level.

Individual schools saw their scores increase as well.

In Lafourche, the parish now boasts 12 A schools, up from just six a year ago. In all, 23 schools increased their scores and just seven decreased.

In Terrebonne, too, the move was generally upward. Twenty-one schools improves, and just 11 saw their scores go down. The number of A schools stayed the same at four.

Each year, these scores provide a snapshot of where each school, each parish and the state as a whole are in their struggles to improve student outcomes.

Over the course of years, they create a good picture of where we are, where we have come from and where we are going.

It appears that the general path is upward.

There is still much room for improvement, of course. But for a state that saw decades of neglect of its school system, we are finally seeing momentum moving in the right direction.

Let’s keep it up.

Editorials represent the opinion of the newspaper, not of any individual.