MIKE FAULK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Mike Faulk has been named as Executive Director for the Louisiana Association of School Superintentdents. Faulk previously served as president of the association, when he was superintendent of schools in Morehouse Parish.

As Executive Director, he will represent superintendents in matters dealing with the governor and BESE. He will also testify before the various committees of the legislature on education matters.

Faulk said the key issue facing superintendents today is finance.  “There’s been no growth in the Minimum Foundation Program in three years,” he said, “and that’s taken its toll on school systems.  It’s put more responsibility on schools systems without giving them any more resources.  Most school systems are losing pupils and thus state money.”

The second most important issue is school accountability, Faulk said.  The number of academically unacceptable schools has been growing, and also the number of charter schools.  The state has taken over a number of schools, but that effort has not shown great success, he said.

The third issue is school and district report cards.  Instead of one to four stars, schools and districts will get a letter grade of A to F.  “That will probably result in fights in some districts, as parents try to get out of under-performing schools and into better ones,” he said.  He said a flaw in the new system is that it does not take into account academic improvement.

The fourth issue is value-added assessment, he said.  It will look at growth by individual teachers.  “In this situation, you may show tremendous growth for a slow group and little growth for a high group.”  This will be a two-year pilot study.

LASS LEDGER

October 2019

November 2019

September 2020