Education reform Archives

in Politics

Pro-Tip: Don’t Confuse Mayor With Emperor LaToya Cantrell weighs-in on OneApp while trying to take money from public schools

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by Peter Cook 15 May 2019, 18:37

UPDATE: 5/16/19 – A new fiscal note attached to Senate Bill 110 estimates that an increase in the City of New Orleans’ tax collection fee from 2% to 4% would cost the Orleans Parish School Board “an additional $8,600,000 beginning 2019-20 and increasing annually to $9,600,000 by 2023-24.” On Friday, the Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s newly-established […] More

in Media

An Anti-Charter Hatchet Job, Annotated WWNO/Hechinger Report tries to blame McDonogh #35's struggles on charters, but fails miserably

by Peter Cook 30 April 2019, 15:26

If you’ve been following the output of the Hechinger Report over the past few years, it should be clear that those in charge at the outlet are pushing an anti-reform agenda in their coverage of New Orleans public schools. That bias is abundantly evident in their misleading, clickbait-y headlines about New Orleans schools, their continued […] More

in OPSB

Hynes Board May Have Violated State Ethics Laws Two UNO Employees On The Board Failed To Recuse Themselves From Hynes-UNO Partnership Votes

by Peter Cook 20 February 2019, 17:35

A review of records of the board of directors of Hynes Charter School has revealed that two board members may have violated state ethics laws by failing to recuse themselves from votes on the school’s partnership with the University of New Orleans (UNO) to open a new K-8 campus. The board members in question, Janice Janz […] More

in OPSB

Silence, Obfuscation & Lies A Backroom Deal Raises Serious Questions About OPSB's Commitment to Equity & Transparency

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by Peter Cook 15 February 2019, 11:44

When it was announced last November that Hynes Charter School would be partnering with the University of New Orleans (UNO) to open a new K-8 campus in fall of 2019, district officials portrayed the move as part of their broader mission to expand access to the city’s highest-performing schools. “We are very thankful to see this partnership […] More

in OPSB

Don’t Give Prejudice A Pass Leslie Ellison's Anti-LGBT Views Make Her Unfit To Lead Our School Board

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by Peter Cook 14 January 2019, 01:02

This Thursday, the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) will vote to elect a new leader. OPSB District 1 representative John Brown, who has served as board president for the past two years, cannot run for re-election due to term limits. As a result, members have been engaged in behind-the-scenes discussions in recent weeks to decide who will […] More

in NOLA

NOLA Public School Enrollment By Letter Grade: 2018 vs. 2005 Schools Still Have A Way To Go, But We're Light Years From Where We Started

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by Peter Cook 15 November 2018, 14:22

As I detailed in a post last week, the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) recently released annual school letter grades and School Performance Scores (SPS) for the 2017-18 school year. A conversation on Facebook spurred my curiosity to find out how many students were attending A, B, C, D, and F-graded schools in New Orleans. […] More

in Charters

A Sibling Dispute In Court Could Spell Trouble for Smothers Academy Charter School's CEO Is Accused Of Financial Impropriety In Lawsuit Filed By Brother

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by Peter Cook 13 November 2018, 02:05

The CEO of a local charter management organization, which was investigated by the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) after a report on this blog raised questions about its management and financial practices, is being accused of financial impropriety in a lawsuit filed by his own brother. On March 28th, I published a post – “Red […] More

in NOLA

Peeking Behind The Curtain… Thirteen years after Katrina, UTNO is still a shadow of its former self

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by Peter Cook 6 September 2018, 23:00

The United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) was once the largest union local in Louisiana and a powerful force in local politics. That changed thirteen years ago, when Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, killed nearly 1,000 residents, and displaced hundreds of thousands more. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the city’s perennially-failing public school […] More

in Louisiana

After Janus, The Drought? LAE & LFT are downplaying the impact of the Janus v. AFSCME decision, but both are subsidized by their national unions

by Peter Cook 29 June 2018, 17:05

The United States Supreme Court handed public sector unions – including the teachers unions – a major defeat on Wednesday with their decision in Janus v. AFSCME, in which a majority of justices agreed that mandatory agency fee laws violate the First Amendment rights of non-union public employees. In the 21 states with agency fee laws, […] More

in Charters

Red Flags Everywhere A review of documents from Smothers Academy raises serious questions about its management practices

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by Peter Cook 29 March 2018, 19:24

A review of documents from a Jefferson Parish charter operator that applied to run a historic high school in New Orleans has revealed that the organization could be violating state ethics laws and has been flagged for serious deficiencies in its management and accounting practices. Last month, Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) officials unveiled a plan […] More

in Charters

Dear Board Members… An Open Letter To The Arkansas State Board Of Education

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by Peter Cook 2 February 2018, 00:47

On January 15th, I sent a letter to the members of the Arkansas State Board of Education to bring their attention to the troubling revelations about Einstein Charter Schools that have emerged over the past several months. Last fall, the State Board of Education approved a proposal from Einstein to open a new charter school […] More

in Media

Disaster Journalism The Intercept Uses Tragedy In Puerto Rico To Bash New Orleans

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by Peter Cook 12 November 2017, 11:38

Last week, The Intercept published an article by Aída Chávez and Rachel Cohen claiming that education officials in Puerto Rico are planning to take over the territory’s traditional public schools and convert them to charters. To put it bluntly, it’s a great work of fiction, but a terrible piece of journalism – one that’s piled […] More

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