When Louisiana’s voucher plan begins in September, the Upperroom Bible Church Academy in New Orleans plans to enroll an additional 214 voucher students. The addition of these students will add $1.8 million in taxpayer dollars to the school’s coffers.
Upperroom Bible Church Academy is already a voucher-receiving school. New Orleans has had a small voucher program since Hurricane Katrina (about 1800 students). Because the school is already getting public funding, its students take the state tests (called LEAP). Last year, only 21% of its students in grade 3, 4 and 5 scored above basic on state tests of reading and math. Some parents left comments about the school on this site (and be aware that this site is unmonitored and thus the comments are not necessarily accurate).
Among the state’s voucher and charter schools, it was third to last on the state LEAP rankings. This raises the possibility that children may be “escaping” from a low-performing public school to an even lower-performing voucher school.
That link demonstrates that most charter and voucher schools perform well below the state average in a low-performing state. If you are looking for a miracle, you won’t find it here. Nor will you find evidence that the Jindal administration is raising standards or expanding opportunities for students in Louisiana to get a better education.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
There’s this little thing about miracles.
They are miraculous. Now, don’t tell me. I know. That’s saying the same thing.
The thing is, miracles are not normal. They are the stuff that converts normal humans into saints. Saints are rare, unless you count the football team in New Orleans. Hmm. Just a minute, NFL Commissioner doesn’t think their behavior is too saintly just now.
We are, most of us, pretty ordinary folks. We work hard and go home tired. We expect to do the same tomorrow. We don’t expect miracles. We expect progress, or at least the opportunity to do as well as we did today.
Children in schools are not looking for miracles either. School is the place kids go that gives them challenges. Children are pretty happy if they meet the challenge head on and struggle through. Children are used to daily challenges. Their teachers give them challenges, support them when they slip, encourage them to stick to it. The good teachers make school a safe place to slip, to stumble, to fall. That is because a good teacher is human, approachable, real, not too saintly, not perfect, not a miracle worker.
That is, of course, unless you think getting Johnny to read or Sally to multiply is a miracle.
Asking for miracles, describing public education as “failing”, using words like “crisis” in the headlines, these are setting a crummy tone for the conversation. It makes parents wonder whether a day’s worth of challenge and success is good enough for their child. It makes kids doubt the chances for their future. Parents and children begin to look at their teachers, their school and see not the reality of hard work, but the specter of doom. Don’t go in there. There aren’t any miracles happening.
Phooey.
Let’s start talking about the reality of learning. It is incremental. It is a constant struggle. If it isn’t a struggle, it isn’t worth doing. It is not a winner-take-all proposition, either. Being the “best” is typically a temporary honor. Being the middle of the pack is okay, and only in the worst situations, where parents, teachers, peers and adimistrators are harsh or even cruel, even being at the trailing edge, the bottom of a class isn’t so bad. I’m better this year than I was last year, right? You still like me, right? You still love me, right?
Keeping a positive attitude, getting up after a fall. Moving ahead to the next challenge. Those need to be our expectations. We need to try not to be disappointed if every child in a school doesn’t enter college at age 14. Come to think of it, I don’t want to be around for the frat parties that will follow from that.
No miracles for me, thanks.
Sure hope all those from the DOE who are now “diligently” investigating the schools which are willing to accept vouchers don’t forget the Upperroom Bible Church Academy. Maybe the governor needs to join the team. Parents and all other taxpayers need to be just as diligent! It sounds to me like UBCA is more interested in filling seats to keep their school open than educating those in the seats.