Alexandria, LA (3/3/2023) – Change is the enemy of complacency. Continuing to accept failure is idiotic at best! So when we look through this plan and see the ideas and the objectives, we can’t help but get excited!
If it was possible to be a perfect idea and plan, this is it! This is, on the surface, a brilliant idea. Create a public school with the best of the best. Start with the young, and by the time they graduate, they are precisely what is needed to fill the imaginary void of this skilled workforce Alexandria needs.
Brilliant! From the only institution that is working in our community. The RPSB and its leaders, principals, teachers, and support staff have been successful. Particularly Carter C. Raymond, Alma Redwine, and Martin Park, the school administrators, teachers, and staff should be applauded given the poverty challenges of their communities. (See: RPSB Achieves Record-Breaking School Performance Scores)
They have exceeded expectations! Our schools and our students are improving! At a record pace! So to see a new plan from this group of folks is an amazing time for our kids and our community!
But there would not be a “what’s best” for our kids’ scenario if we didn’t have concerns. What happens when we have more qualified students than the new academy is able to accommodate? What is the plan for communication and parent involvement (active school building level committee)? What are the entrance criteria for students? How do we make sure transportation is not a burden on economically disadvantaged families? Is it test scores? Is it a location? Is it teacher selection? Or is it curriculum based? So while we are in full support of this plan, we do have significant questions and major concerns.
But this is an opportunity for change. Improvement literally means “a thing that makes something better or is better than something else.” This is that thing.
That thing that will make our schools better. That thing that will make Alexandria better. But most importantly, that “ thing” that will make our kids better.
We are all for that, and we will support that all the way. But we do want our questions and concerns addressed!
But hey, Jeff Powell and the RPSB, thank you for, if nothing else but trying.
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