Orleans Parish ranks dead last among its peers on the percentage of students who pass the language arts portion. Just 69 percent could do so in 1995-96, which was even worse than the year before. In Louisiana, the average passing rate was 86 percent. Even though the 1995-96 figures incorporate both regular and special education students for the first time, the inclusion does not seem to upset the trend. New Orleans' improvements on the tests have been greater than those for the state as a whole, helping close the gap between the city's scores and the statewide ones.
Students apparently find school in New Orleans less than riveting.
Attendance is the worst in the state, averaging 89.8 percent. The statewide average is 93.4 percent, or about what it is in Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Estimates of the dropout rate vary widely. But the mayor doesn't dispute a 30 percent figure, and other estimates claim more than half of the students who begin high school don't graduate. Crime and safety have also been a problem for the schools.