What Does the Louisiana Federation of Teachers Stand For?

Today I’m distraught.   The Louisiana Federation of Teachers, who backed proposed legislative bills to scuttle the implementation of the Common Core Standards, claims our students can’t take the tests associated with these standards. The reason given is that “the students lack the computer skills needed to succeed on the exams.”   Instead, the LFT wants an educational system which utilizes state developed standards and assessments.

As a union representing professional teachers, I’m sure that the LFT is aware of the fact that for the past 20 years our state education system has been operating under just such a paradigm as an integral part of the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program, better known as LEAP.

In case they’ve forgotten, according to the Louisiana Department of Education, LEAP was, “a high stakes criterion-referenced testing program created to assess how well a student had mastered STATE DEVELOPED CONTENT STANDARDS (my caps).”  These tests were, “directly aligned with the state content standards.”

Beginning in 1989, local school districts developed curriculum based upon these state standards, and students were tested at the 4^th, 8^th, and high school grade levels on their abilities in successfully mastering them.

I find it unacceptable,  that 14 years into the 21^st century, the LFT claims that teachers  failed to provide  students with the basic computer skills needed to handle an on line test, considering the fact that part of the LFT’s mission statement reads, ” …. is a union of professionals that champions high-quality education…..”

 

It is obvious, by the LFT’s own admission, that the very plan which they seek to perpetuate, namely, state developed standards, is the major cause of why our students are presently not prepared to adequately compete in the digital age, and consistently rank, nationally, 48^th on reading skills and  last on math skills.