High School Split Playoffs..No More

[ManAboutTown]

Oh man do not get me started on this. It is getting worst and worst every year and not just in Louisiana, here in Texas as well. They are compensated much more here but are still loosing good workers to other industries every year because of this. There is a HUGE disconnect between what the administration wants and what a teacher should be doing.

Well that and, parents and wussy assed administrators, too spineless to stand up for their employees and lead, have crippled the authority of the modern day teacher in their own classrooms. There is no order anymore. The parents don't teach order or structure at home, and even if the teachers wanted to exhaust themselves and double as parents from 8:00 - 3:00, they would be wasting their times because NO one is supporting them.

I feel sorry for teachers at many public schools and wonder how anyone is still interested in entering that profession.

[CajunNation]

The public school system is in decline because it no longer has the best interests of the children in mind. Sometimes, the best thing for our children is not politically correct or not approved by the federal government. This is why Reagan so strongly supported the abolishment of the Department of Education.

When it comes to education, local control of the system is key. Chasing federal money is the root of all evil.

[CajunT]

A perfect example is the big DT from north side transferring to notre dame...if you were watching your kid jeopardize his future by hanging out with the wrong people and getting caught up in the wrong environment and you had a chance to totally remove him from that situation, I think every parent would do it. I don't see anything wrong with that.

I don't know why anyone would not want to allow students to get out of failing schools and terrible environments. It's amazing how many people say that education is the key to lifting children out of poverty, but are against school choice.

[ulXrunner]

I don't know why anyone would not want to allow students to get out of failing schools and terrible environments. It's amazing how many people say that education is the key to lifting children out of poverty, but are against school choice.

I agree.

[CajunT]

It's fairly simple. You can keep the classes or at least something similar and districts can still be based around geography. The big difference is your school would be assigned to a class based on performance instead of enrollment. This means that teams like Evangel would be moved to the highest classification while a team from a larger school that typically underperforms would get moved down in classification. The point is to have similar talent levels on the field against each other.

At the end of each season the different classifications are reviewed. As an example you could review the 4A class and decide the state champion destroyed everyone and has a lot of returning players next year. They would get promoted up to 5A for next year. At the same time there were two teams at the bottom of 4A that managed to win only a couple of games and there is no reason to expect a big change the following year. Those teams could get relegated to 3A.

You don't have a set number of teams that get promoted/relegated. You have to look at it year by year. Every school can have input but ultimately the decisions would need to be made by a representative committee of the LHSAA.

I don't think you look at it from year-to-year, but every 5 years. Look, all this conversation is really about two private schools over the past decade, Evangel and John Curtis. My opinion has been you don't need things like the 1.5 rules to alleviate programs from dominating certain classifications.

I'm speaking specifically about football, but if a program wins more then 2 state championships in a 5 year period, then the LHSAA should make them play up to the next classification regardless of the student enrollment. Evangel and John Curtis were forced to play up and neither have won state championships, the last for Curtis was in 2013 and 2010 for Evangel. The creation of Calvary Baptist has cut in to the number of athletes that are enrolling at Evangel now. And simply pushing John Curtis to the Catholic League in 5A Football would have alleviated the concern.

But let's be honest, their are publicly schools that should be looked at as well specifically because they become powers in rural areas. Haynesville has won 3 (2009,2013,2014) in the past 6 years. I have no problem with the LSHAA forcing them to play up a classification regardless of student enrollment.

Creating private and public divisions simply enhances programs like Notre Dame, Parkview Baptist and Southern Lab chances to win state titles. All private schools are not funded equally, nor are public schools as well.

[CharlieK]

I don't think you look at it from year-to-year, but every 5 years. Look, all this conversation is really about two private schools over the past decade, Evangel and John Curtis. My opinion has been you don't need things like the 1.5 rules to alleviate programs from dominating certain classifications.

I'm speaking specifically about football, but if a program wins more then 2 state championships in a 5 year period, then the LHSAA should make them play up to the next classification regardless of the student enrollment. Evangel and John Curtis were forced to play up and neither have won state championships, the last for Curtis was in 2013 and 2010 for Evangel. The creation of Calvary Baptist has cut in to the number of athletes that are enrolling at Evangel now. And simply pushing John Curtis to the Catholic League in 5A Football would have alleviated the concern.

But let's be honest, their are publicly schools that should be looked at as well specifically because they become powers in rural areas. Haynesville has won 3 (2009,2013,2014) in the past 6 years. I have no problem with the LSHAA forcing them to play up a classification regardless of student enrollment.

Creating private and public divisions simply enhances programs like Notre Dame, Parkview Baptist and Southern Lab chances to win state titles. All private schools are not funded equally, nor are public schools as well.

Exactly. And exactly what I said earlier. All that is needed is the forced upgrade for schools that dominate. Not some huge system or idiotic split.

[CajunNation]

I like the 10/3 rule.

If you finish in the top or bottom 10% of your district for 3 years straight, you get promoted or demoted. 4 or more years is too much because if a school is in the wrong district, an entire class of students will get the shaft, never getting to compete against schools with similar talent levels.

Conversely, 1 or 2 years is not enough time to get a true picture of a school's program level.

If we focus simply on championships, it will not provide enough fluidity to make a difference except for a select few schools.

So, the question becomes, do we want an entirely new system based on competition levels or do we want to reclassify one or two schools?

[CajunNation]

The promotion/demotion model just might fix another problem. We never should have gone to 5 classes. If you are gonna start moving schools between classes within the same district area, you better have enough schools to go around in each class, in that area.

So, go back to 4 classes, and implement the 10/3 rule.

You're welcome.

[Duggie35]

Some of these suggestions just make way too much sense to be considered by the LHSAA and those in charge of education in this State.

[Duggie35]

I saw the following comment on another site that addresses how a particular situation was handled in Texas, regarding a couple of Private schools.

The UIL allowed Houston Jesuit and Dallas Jesuit to join the association due to years of asking and the fact it was too difficult for them to find competition in Tapps for state playoffs. One year the basketball Tapps largest division had only four schools in the entire state in the playoffs. So here are the rules as told to me by Dallas Jesuit parents at a track meet.

1.They must play in the largest division, which was 5A, but they are now in 6A. Today was Realignment Day, so everyone in Texas found out their new district. Jesuit has 2214 students(1100 boys plus 1114 girls at Urseline) which is the smallest 6A program in North Texas. 2199 is the cutoff from 5A. They are located one block from the Dallas Galleria, so they are in a league of DISD schools, but Skyline and Berkner are really good programs in all sports.
2.They must keep their admission standards. This is where I feel the LHSAA has failed miserably. In other words, for the past 77 years Jesuit students must take an admission test to get in during the spring of their 8th grade year. They must have a certain GPA in Middle School, etc. They do have hardship scholarships, but it illegal to give athletic scholarships. Tuition is $16,200 a year, so alumni board wants to keep it an academic institution and help those that are financially in need, but have kids who qualify for the school.

They give out $2 million in academic aid, but no athletic aid. Test scores and GPA as well as middle school recommendations. In other words, they offer 20 varsity sports and 80 extracurricular activities for all students. They are all male and they mix with Ursaline Academy, one of the best All-Girl prep schools in the USA. They have girls from overs-seas and they have dorms. There are NO props coming out of these sports programs.

3.All coaches must be full time employees. No McDonough 35 deals where three coaches don't even work at the school.

4. Attendance zones are set up by the UIL to mirror the closest public school. Athletes out of zone must sit for one year.
The rules have kept Jesuit clean , plus they are 77 years old and are known for academics, so alums are not worried about winning district championships. They have done well in baseball and football, making the playoffs just about every year. They will not get past round two because they will start to meet much tougher competition.