








If Ava Lee] and other teachers at Lafayette Elementary do not find ways to improve LEAP scores and remove the school from the academically unacceptable list this year, the school will be eligible for takeover by the state. Schools that fail academically four years in a row can have control transferred from the local school board to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Lafayette Elementary is on oak-tree-lined South Carrollton Avenue, which is dotted in some sections with stately, pricey, white- columned homes. Despite the nearby opulence, Lafayette Elementary's students come from neighborhoods where families have little money and, in some cases, lots of problems, Lee said. Public school teachers with a bachelor's degree in St. Charles Parish earn about $3,314 more than their Orleans Parish colleagues. St. Tammany Parish starts teachers out at about $3,753 more than Orleans.
