LTISD Info

After reading a June 10, 2009 press release from the Eanes ISD about how well the Westlake High School fared in the latest Newsweek rankings of the top 1500 public high schools, I decided to find out how the Lake Travis High School ranked.

Unfortunately, I found out why the Marco Alvarado did not put out a similar press release!

Keeping with Chris Wilson’s list of ‘cohort’ high schools, I have compiled a history of the yearly Newsweek rankings of the Lake Travis, Westlake and Westwood high schools:

Newsweek’s ranking of Westlake, Westwood and Lake Travis high schools in their annual list of the top 1,500 U.S. high schools.

(Source: Newsweek, “The Top of the Class, The complete list of the 1,500 top U.S. high schools”)

Wow, 1096 for the LTISD! Quite a drop for the “highly acclaimed” LTISD and no where near the ranking of Westlake or Westwood high schools.

Just how did this dramatic drop happen?

Wait a minute!

Didn’t Marco Alvarado, LTISD Minister of Disinformation, put out a press release on April 18, 2008 saying:

“Lake Travis High School makes significant jump in Newsweek’s Top Schools list

For the third year in a row, Lake Travis High School has been listed as one of Newsweek’s Top 1,300 schools in the country. This year, the campus jumped more than 200 spots to be listed at number 503—its highest ranking yet. …”
(The district has not yet removed their web page for this “News Release.” Let’s see how long it takes before it “just disappears.”)

Hey Marco, why haven’t you put out a press release about the dramatic drop that the LTISD suffered?

Marco, don’t you think that moving down from 603 to 1096 news worthy? Isn’t this especially so since Westwood and Westlake high schools were able to maintain their rankings?

Seems like we have more proof to back up Chris Wilson’s call for improvements in academic rigor.

Just what has the LTISD been doing with all that money that they have been throwing at the problem?

Lets compare the three school districts for each of these three high schools from a financial and taxation point of view:

(Source: Texas Education Agency)

Notes: ¹Spending Efficiency = Expenditures per Student ÷ Instructional Spending per Student

On a spending basis, the LTISD should be a good as the Eanes ISD, but all the rankings and benchmarks say otherwise.

Why then can’t the LTISD academic performance be as good as the Eanes ISD?

When it comes to “bang for the buck,” we see that others can and do excel.

What’s wrong with the LTISD?

Why do they think that more money will solve their problems?

Why can’t the LTISD manage their money as effectively as other districts?

We pay a LOT of money for mediocrity.