Disclaimer: The views that are expressed in the Letter to the Editor section is strictly and solely those of the author and should in no way be construed as the opinions of the Jackson Parish Journal unless otherwise indicated as such.
To the citizens of the Town of Jonesboro:
I have thought long and hard before writing this letter, in fact, I said a prayer before deciding as to what I should do. After much thought, I decided to speak about the condition of The Town of Jonesboro. Citizens of The Town of Jonesboro, it is time for all of us to speak up and speak out for the sake of our town. The Town cannot stand four more years with Leslie Thompson as Mayor.
Mayor Thompson is not committed to making the town a better place to live and work. Mayor Thompson is only committed to himself. Ask yourself, is Jonesboro a city on the grow, is Jonesboro a place where Industry wants to come, is Jonesboro a business-friendly town, is Jonesboro a financial stable town, is Jonesboro a town with a visible mayor in time of a disaster? Citizens, I am sorry to say that the answer to each of the questions is a resounding “NO”.
We learned by studying history that history repeats itself, and we can see history repeating itself with Leslie Thompson as Mayor. It is only under the leadership of Mayor Thompson that the town cannot pay its bills and cannot charge purchases with the local businesses. Mayor Thompson blames everybody for his failures, but himself. He always wants to blame the previous administration for any problems that the town has, no matter when they occurred.
What Mayor Thompson doesn’t realize is that he is correct, because “HE” is the previous administration. Now, let’s be clear, Mayor Thompson knows how to fight for what he wants for himself, example, he fought month after month until he got him a club in Jonesboro, and month after month until he purchased a town car for business of the town and for his personal use. Mayor Thompson not only uses the car for routine travel, but also uses it to campaign for re-election, which is illegal.
In closing, let me say as strongly as I can, citizens, we need a change in the leadership of the Town of Jonesboro, and we have a chance to do it. Tuesday, November 8 is election day, and we need to go out and vote for change, vote James “Spike” Harris, #63, Mayor, Town of Jonesboro.
James Bradford
LASS ACCOUNTABILITY
Dear Editor,
BESE is proposing a change to the High School accountability system solely to reduce the number of High Schools rated A or B, not to make the accountability system a better reflection of our public schools. After the proposal was reviewed by Superintendents and accountability experts, it was found NOT to be in the best interest of students. Forcing students into college-level classes in High School does nothing to ensure they master High School content.
LASS and other education groups propose an accountability system based upon a simple 100-point scale aligned to the A-F grading scale that all of our parents understand. The system divides college & career readiness, ACT/WorkKeys, and Growth to result in A-F grades using a 10-point scale. It aligns ACT to TOPS and to WorkKeys. It focuses on grading High Schools for accomplishing High School education. It incentivizes both dual enrollment and career credentials but does not demand college work from High School students. It scales growth by recognizing that all growth is positive. It recognizes students who graduate on time and students whom strive to finish after 4 years. It equally recognizes college-ready students AND career-ready students. It also recognizes readiness for Military Service. It recognizes the achievement of SPED students who are prepared to enter the workforce.
This proposal offers a more accurate reflection of students and schools. It will also be better for students, families, businesses, and communities to understand.
For those that ask, “What will the letter-grade distribution be under your proposal?”, we didn’t run the numbers. Our goal was to formulate a system that is better for students, parents, and communities – NOT to decide what the outcome of the math should be then reverse engineer the formula to accomplish a predetermined result.
Patrick D. Jenkins
Louisiana Association of School Superintendents President
1013 Creswell Lane
Opelousas, LA. 70570
337-948-3657