Lafayette’s Education Boom – The Joe Cunningham Show

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A Big Jump In Test Scores

Lafayette is earning statewide recognition for its growth in test scores in the 2021-2022 school year. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a quick return to school and a return to relative normalcy appear to have played a big role.

Lafayette Parish was recognized Wednesday as one of the top school districts in the state in year-over-year growth during a news conference where state officials released 2022 LEAP scores.

While public school students across Acadiana showed some recovery on key test scores after results plummeted last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, Lafayette Parish was the only district in the region in which the number of students in grades 3-8 who met Louisiana's longtime achievement goal — called mastery — surpassed the 2019 number. In 2019, 38% of students scored mastery or higher. It dropped to 36% in 2021 and then jumped to 39% in 2022.

What's more, two of the school system's schools stood out.

Among the six school districts with 30,000 or more students, LPSS ranks first in improving the percentage of students in grades 3-8 achieving mastery or higher on state assessments, according to a news release from the school district. LPSS is also the one-year change leader among Regions IV and V in improving the percentage of students in grades 3-8 achieving master or higher.

In addition, two Lafayette Parish schools received special recognition during Wednesday's announcement of test scores. Early College Academy is ranked among the top 10 of all Louisiana schools for 2022 LEAP performance and Myrtle Place Elementary is the top school in the state for year-to-year improvement in LEAP.

It's a big story for Lafayette Parish, which was one of the parishes that led the way in returning children to school sooner. Other surrounding parishes lingered within the confines of more restrictive COVID-19 protocols, which only served to hurt children. It appears that, right now, Lafayette is poised to eradicate many of the knowledge gaps incurred during the pandemic.

Jobless Claims Up, Job Openings Down Amid Recession Fears

The Associated Press is reporting that jobless claims are up once again.

Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 30 rose by 6,000 to 260,000 from the previous week’s 254,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally reflect layoffs.

The four-week average for claims, which evens out the weekly ups and downs, also rose from the previous week, to 254,750.

The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits for the week ending July 23 rose by 48,000 from the previous week, to 1,416,000. That figure has been near 50-year lows for months.

At the same time, the number of job openings in the country fell to its lowest number since September 2021. The latest survey shows openings fell to about 10.7 million through the last day of June, a decline of 605,000 or 5.4%.

Along with the jobless claims rising and job openings falling, job hiring also slowed. As we sure we're not in a recession?

John Kennedy's New Ad

In an online ad released by Sen. John Kennedy's, the Louisiana native promises that he's not about to shut up anytime soon.

It's a great video. My friend Brandon Morse has more at RedState.

Headlines Of The Day

• I-49 South qualifies for federal aid (The Advocate)
• SADOW: Edwards’ School Closings Hurt Kids, And The Data Shows It (The Hayride)
• Alex Jones's Lawyer Accidentally Sent a Digital Copy of His Phone to Opposing Counsel, and the J6 Committee Wants It (RedState)
• Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius (The Verge)
• Trump's pandora's box (Axios)

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