For more than a year, Calcasieu Parish special education teacher Ganey Arsement has been on a self-appointed crusade against education reform in Louisiana. He has blasted charters, standardized testing, Common Core, teacher evaluation, and yours truly on his blog, as well as on social media. He has worked to coordinate his attacks with the state’s […] More
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I would venture to guess that most people are familiar with this aphorism, which is usually (although inaccurately) attributed to Albert Einstein. I say “most people” because the behavior of Governor John Bel Edwards suggests that he hasn’t […] More
Last week, the U.S. Senate voted to repeal federal regulations that would require states to assess the effectiveness of their teacher training programs and hold schools and districts accountable for student performance. Why? Because Republicans in Congress appear hellbent on dismantling the Obama Administration’s legislative and regulatory legacies without regard for the consequences of their […] More
When the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) made the difficult decision to close Baton Rouge Charter Academy in Mid-City (BRCA) last month, that was supposed to be the final word on the matter. But apparently Jon Hage, CEO of Charter Schools USA, the organization which runs BRCA, didn’t get the memo. Charles Lussier […] More
At a time when other states are backing away from education policies that shake-up the status quo, Louisiana is charging forward with reforms aimed at raising student achievement. On Wednesday, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved a plan that will dramatically transform teacher preparation in Louisiana. Beginning in 2018, students entering […] More
Over the past several weeks, Governor John Bel Edwards has made a flurry of appointments to various boards and commissions, including his Advisory Council on the Every Student Succeeds Act, a new committee the Governor established through an executive order in late May. The Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA), of course, is the latest iteration of the Elementary and […] More
Ever since John Bel Edwards’ upset victory in the gubernatorial race last fall, education reform supporters have worried that the Governor would try to roll back many of the policies that have helped raise student achievement across the state. After all, during his tenure in the Louisiana House of Representatives, Edwards opposed Common Core and […] More
It’s official. This morning, Lusher’s board of directors unanimously voted to file a lawsuit to block the implementation of a new school funding formula if the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) proceeds with a vote on the matter next week. Robert Morris of the Uptown Messenger live-blogged Lusher’s emergency board meeting – you can read his […] More
It appears that officials at Lusher Charter School are doubling down on their promise to fight a proposed change in the way public schools are funded in New Orleans. Up to now, the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) and Recovery School District (RSD) have used different formulas to fund their respective schools. The new proposal […] More
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post that called out Lusher Charter School officials for making misleading, alarmist claims about an upcoming change to their school funding formula. Now, unfortunately, it appears that Lusher officials have decided to take their misinformation campaign a step further. On Monday, Lusher CEO Kathy Riedlinger and Board […] More
Although I like Jennifer “Edushyster” Berkshire personally, it’s safe to say that when it comes to education policy, we agree to disagree on most points. However, I think I finally found an education issue on which we are more-or-less aligned: independent charter school authorizers. On Tuesday, Salon published an interview Berkshire conducted with the authors […] More
Apparently some folks haven’t gotten the memo, so let me reiterate something: The war over Common Core in Louisiana is over. Yep, kaput. Done. Finito. The ship has sailed. The curtain has fallen. Louisiana’s citizens have spoken through their elected representatives in the legislature, who have rejected every single bill – and there have been […] More
Peter Cook