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2014 THE TIMES
Shreveport-Bossier City owns one
of the nations worst metro rankings
for growth in gross domestic product
(GDP).
The area recorded a GDP of near-
ly $23.6 billion and a negative growth
rate of 5.4 percent in 2013, according
to the U.S. Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA). That yielded the na-
tions second-worst metro ranking
380th.
GDP in the Shreveport-Bossier
City area has
been falling
since a jump in
2011 to $24.8 bil-
lion from $22.5
billion in 2010.
But the $133 mil-
lion fall from
2011 to 2012 was
significantly
less than the $1.1
billion reduction
that marked
2013.
It just de-
pends on whats
happening in
that market. A
single-year basis
doesnt give you
the big picture,
LSU-Shreveport
economics pro-
fessor Timothy
Shaughnessy
said. GDP is one
of those markers
that isnt com-
plete, but its one
of the best pic-
tures we have.
The ranking surprised Greater
Shreveport Chamber of Commerce
President Dick Bremer, who agreed
a single snapshot of the local econo-
my may ignore some of the changes
coming down the pike and some of
the major local industries such as
health care and Barksdale Air Force
Base. We should always be looking
toward the future. Weve got some
pretty good things out there.
Manufacturing production spiked
by $669 million, to $3.3 billion, in 2011.
The BEA did not disclose 2012 manu-
facturing production to avoid the
disclosure of confidential informa-
tion, but reported 2013 local manu-
facturing production at $8 million
less than 2011.
The BEA hasnt disclosed oil and
natural gas production since at least
2011. But the mining sector, which in-
cludes that more specific data, has
Growth in
Shreveport
area GDP
near worst
$1.1 billion decline ranks
it 380th of 381 among
metro rankings for 2013
From Staff and Wire Reports
SOME KEY
NUMBERS
$23.6
billion
Shreveport-Bossier
Citys gross domestic
product in 2013.
-5.4%
The areas GDP
growth rate in 2013.
380th
The areas ranking
for GDP growth,
second-worst
among the nations
381 metro areas.
Only Peoria, Illinois,
has a lower ranking,
with a negative
growth rate of 6.8
percent.
Source: U.S. Bureau of
Economic Analysis
See GDP, Page 7A
W
alking into the
front office of
Westwood Ele-
mentary, visi-
tors are greeted with How-
dy! from all directions.
Staffers, wearing gold star
badges, address each other
as marshal or deputy.
And students at the
Shreveport school are re-
ferred to as cowboys or
cowgirls under the direc-
tive of a new sheriff in town,
principal Renee Ellis. It is
her second year at the Title I
neighborhood campus off
Jewella Avenue.
The Title I designation
means more than 40 per-
cent of Westwood Elemen-
tarys students qualify for
free or reduced-price
lunches. But 99 percent of
the schools students fit the
category, Ellis said.
Westwood Elementary in
Caddo School Districts
Transformation Zone one
of 10 identified as academi-
cally unacceptable and un-
derperforming. Its princi-
pal said a state takeover was
looming.
Yet, at a meeting last
week, teachers and admin-
istrators realized with the
exception of one, all depu-
ties or teachers had
elected to pull their children
from other schools to attend
Westwood Elementary.
Caddo teachers have the
option of letting their chil-
dren attend the school
where they teach, despite
district zoning.
Adozen students at West-
wood Elementary are there
because their parents be-
lieve in whats happening at
the school, Ellis said.
Or, in fifth-grader Der-
rick Smiths case, no other
school would do once he set
foot on the ranch, com-
plete with budding cacti and
western fixtures. A ranch-
style wooden fence is under
construction in an inner
courtyard.
Themes are a big part of
Transforming students at
THE RANCH
JIM HUDELSON/THE TIMES
Westwood Elementary teacher Heather Walls works with her students. Walls daughter Lauren is a second-grader at the Shreveport school.
JIM HUDELSON/THE TIMES
Im very happy at the ranch because
teachers can choose their own theme, and
you can see they care about you because
of what they put up.
DERRICK SMITH, a fifth-grader at Westwood whose mother
is a math teacher there
Most teachers at
Westwood with
kids choose to
keep them there
By Courtney Spradlin
Courtney.Spradlin@shreveporttimes.com
TRANSFORMATION
SCHOOLS
Caddo School Districts trans-
formation campuses are Moore-
town, Atkins, Midway, Queens-
borough, Westwood, Werner
Park, Caddo Middle Career and
Technology, Lakeshore Middle,
Woodlawn and Fair Park.
See RANCH, Page 7A
Meet the father-and-son
firefighters from Shreveport
who will be on Survivor
Can they win
a cool million?
ACE, PAGE 7C
HIGH 88 | LOW 69
Chance of rain, Page 2
TODAYS FORECAST
Business ................4A
Classifieds..............6B
Sports ....................1B
Deaths....................8A
Television.............16C
Conversations ......6A