On Friday, Louisiana lawmakers voted to cancel a veto session to override Governor John Bel Edwards’ rejection of a number of bills passed by the legislature during this year’s regular session. The move was expected even though many Republican legislators accused the Governor of using his veto power to punish lawmakers who have consistently opposed […] More
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
Louisiana’s House Education Committee will convene Wednesday morning to consider a number of important proposals, including House Bill 390 from State Rep. Gary Carter (D-New Orleans), which would ensure that TOPS college scholarship awards are equitably distributed in the event of future funding shortfalls. The program that eventually became TOPS was originally launched in 1989 […] More
Tonight, the NAACP will be holding a hearing on charter schools at the New Orleans City Council Chambers (1300 Perdido Street) starting at 5:30pm. It will be the sixth hearing that the NAACP has held in cities across the country following their inexplicable call for a moratorium on charter schools last fall. The NAACP’s call […] 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
When teachers unions attacked charter schools in Washington State by filing lawsuits challenging their constitutionality, reformers from across the nation rushed to their defense. A media campaign was launched with the hashtag #SaveWACharterSchools. Op-eds were written. Amicus briefs were filed. Rallies were organized. Pro-charter forces raised such a fuss that the fight in Washington State […] 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
Although the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE) and Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) largely stayed on the sidelines during last year’s electoral contests, a review of campaign finance reports filed by their political action committees over the past 12 months provides some interesting insights on our state’s two teachers unions. Here are some highlights… I. […] More
An analysis of campaign finance records reveals that the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) spent far more on November’s Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) elections than previously reported. According to filings with the Louisiana Board of Ethics, Orleans Future PAC, a political action committee launched by AFT in late-September of last year, spent nearly $370,000 […] More
On Friday, Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) Superintendent Henderson Lewis announced that he will turn New Orleans’ five remaining traditional public schools into charters by the start of the 2017-18 school year. Lewis will present his transition plan to the school board on Tuesday, although it will be little more than a formality. Under state […] More
Note: This is the second installment of a two-part series. You can read Part I here. When Kyle Serrette learned back in February that Louisiana was on the verge of winning an $8 million charter school grant from U.S. Department of Education, he wasn’t happy about the news. After all, he had spent the previous […] More
Over the past year, a small group of education leaders from across Louisiana has been secretly plotting to curtail charter school expansion, weaken the state’s accountability policies, and rewrite the law passed earlier this year to return New Orleans schools to local control. The group, which calls itself the Louisiana Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools […] More
Peter Cook