Televangelists yell and wag their fingers on TV to make their points. They can use powerful words and impassioned speaking to trick thousands into believing a fraud.

Teenagers can be equally as quick to raise their voices when they’ve missed curfew, spouting reason after reason, but making no valid points at all.

Rabble-rousers in general learn early on that it’s the persona behind the podium that can sway a crowd, not the facts.

But the president of the local school board shouldn’t fall into any of those categories.

Unfortunately, at last week’s heated Concordia Parish School Board meeting, Gary Parnham fell into all three.

The normally mild-mannered retired principal lost his cool to say the least.

Perhaps Parnham got too caught up in his emotions. Or perhaps he has merely fallen victim to nasty parish politics.

Either way, Parnham used broad, sweeping statements based on minute facts to make his case for essentially firing Superintendent Kerry Laster.

Sadly for Parnham, those who know education, know the schools and know Laster, know he is wrong.

Though much of the board president’s ramblings were hard to make sense of, one statement jumped out as a red flag that the man either didn’t understand what he was talking about or didn’t care to see the bigger picture.

In a tirade against Laster, this newspaper and specifically me, Parnham rattled off a list of ACT scores that he said showed Laster was not improving the schools.

In 2003 the composite ACT score for the district was 17.7, he said. In 2004 it was 18.6; 18.2 in 2005; 18.1 in 2006 and 18.0 in 2007.

His numbers are correct, but they lack understanding.

Laster started working for the district in late 2003. But since those ACT numbers can’t be credited to her and are the lowest of the bunch, let’s throw them out.

From 2004 to 2007 the composite score dropped six tenths of a point.

Obviously that’s a small change in the first place, so this argument seems weak. But I’ll play along.

Yes, the scores have gone down under Laster.

But, the numbers Parnham didn’t read are the total number of students tested each year. In 2004, 123 students took the ACT. In 2007, 152 did. The number increased steadily each year in between. The difference of those 29 students means a lot.

What Parnham failed to explain is that over time, schools — including those in Concordia Parish — have encouraged more and more students to take the ACT. Historically, the only students who took the test were those who were college-bound.

Now, as guidance counselors will tell you, more students who may not necessarily head to college are taking the test.

If you’ve had even the smallest amount of math schooling, you’ll realize that one low-performing student can throw off an average.

Parnham’s other test score point is full of holes as well. He pointed to the fact that two Vidalia schools were labeled “in decline” this year. That’s true. But a closer look at the growth targets for each school shows that the baseline score required for improvement has gone up since 2003. That means it has steadily become more difficult to be considered a successful school.

Louisiana accountability rankings also fail to compare one group of students to itself. They only compare last year’s third graders to this year’s third graders, opening the door for an exceptionally smart class or an academically slower class to throw the averages.

But Parnham didn’t want the room full of Laster supporters last week to worry about these details. He only wanted them to hear his roar, take his side and boot a good superintendent out of a job.

Laster’s contract will end in December. She’ll find another job and move on. But Concordia Parish won’t soon forget the outburst and misrepresentation of the facts Parnham so rudely threw in the voters’ faces Thursday night. Nor should they.

Julie Finley is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.finley@natchezdemocrat.com.