Louisiana’s Unacceptable Schools List Swells From Last Year

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Education officials say the number of public schools facing state sanctions rose by 33 percent this year amid tougher state standards.

Barry Landry, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, tells The Advocate a total of 180 schools are listed as academically unacceptable, up from 135 last year.

The list represents 13 percent of public schools statewide.

Penny Dastugue, president of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said Monday the figures are actually encouraging.

Dastugue said that 84 schools that were below the new, more rigorous standard last year improved enough to stay off the list this time.

Schools have to achieve minimum scores on performance evaluations to avoid state sanctions.

The minimum this time is 75 out of 200 points, up from 65 last year.