For more than ten years, critics of the Recovery School District (RSD) have attempted to portray the state takeover of schools from the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) as an assault on democracy. “RSD does what it chooses and does not have to answer to the public,” Rev. Dwight Webster complained to the Times-Picayune in […] More
With the 2016 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature now in full swing, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the campaign finance records of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) and Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE) to see where their donations have been going. Below, I’ve assembled all campaign donations […] More
If you follow this blog, you know I’ve repeatedly called for the Louisiana Democratic Party to once again wholeheartedly embrace common sense education reform policies. Instead, over the past four years, LaDemos have said things like this: .@DavidVitter has fought for mandatory testing, paving the way for Common Core. #lagov — Louisiana Democrats (@LaDemos) November […] More
It’s been a nerve-rattling couple weeks for those of us who identify as pro-reform Democrats. It all started with Arne Duncan’s surprise announcement that he was stepping down as Secretary of Education at the end of the year. As President Obama noted, “Arne’s done more to bring our educational system — sometimes kicking and screaming […] More
Two Democrats are facing off in BESE’s District 2 race: incumbent Kira Orange Jones versus political newcomer Kara Washington. Orange Jones, who lives in New Orleans, leads Teach For America’s work in the region. Since unseating Louella Givens in 2011, Orange Jones has emerged as a champion of common sense education reform policies on BESE, […] More
BESE’s District 1 race is a no-brainer. The contest is a rematch of the 2011 election, once again pitting incumbent Jim Garvey, an attorney from Metairie first elected to the board in 2007, against Lee Barrios, a former St. Tammany Parish middle school teacher. Four years ago, Garvey easily won reelection in the first round with […] More
Update – 9/15/15: Lottie Beebe sent the following tweet in response to this piece: @petercook The date error has been corrected (human error) and no campaign funds were raised/spent in that time. — Lottie P. Beebe (@beebeforbese) September 15, 2015 Lottie Beebe, who is running for reelection as the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s […] More
A bill pre-filed by State Rep. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) on Wednesday indicates that he plans to resume his attack on charter schools during the upcoming legislative session. Edwards’ proposed legislation, House Bill 101, would force charter schools to follow the same eligibility and certification guidelines required for staff in traditional public schools. Freedom from […] More
Peter Cook