John White Archives

in Louisiana

Dumb & Dumber Louisiana's Senators Choose Partisanship Over Common Sense Education Policies

by Peter Cook 17 March 2017, 15:04

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

in Louisiana

The Supes Who Cried Wolf Why Are District Leaders Trying To Make A Mess Outta ESSA?

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by Peter Cook 22 February 2017, 00:35

Last week’s meeting of the Superintendents’ Advisory Council turned into a three-hour long soap opera as several school district leaders used the opportunity to attack State Superintendent John White over his plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). For the past nine months, White and the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) have […] More

in Reform

Update: John White Calls on García To Retract Statements La. State Superintendent Calls Comments "Insensitive" and "Inaccurate"

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by Peter Cook 21 November 2016, 14:46

Louisiana State Superintendent John White called on National Education Association president Lily Eskelsen García to publicly retract statements she made last week about the rebuilding of New Orleans schools after Hurricane Katrina. On Friday, the Pacific Northwest Inlander published an interview with García in which she claimed that state education officials rebuilt and modernized “white […] More

in Louisiana

One Small Step For BESE, One Giant Leap For Teacher Prep Louisiana Transforms How It Trains Its Teachers

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by Peter Cook 14 October 2016, 14:39

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

in Louisiana

Stay In Your Lane, Governor Governor Edwards' ESSA Advisory Council Is An Unnecessary Distraction

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by Peter Cook 30 August 2016, 20:32

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

in Charters

The Problem With Independent Authorizers Keeping a Tight Rein on Charter Authorizing Is Essential For Success

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by Peter Cook 8 January 2016, 15:07

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

in Louisiana

The Naked Ambition of Hollis Milton West Feliciana's Superintendent Takes Aim at Accountability & John White

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by Peter Cook 28 September 2015, 14:00

There’s a difference, of course, between ambition and naked ambition. The former is a quality we admire in an individual who is willing to push themselves to the heights that their talents can take them. The latter is much less flattering; it denotes a gracelessness in pursuit of those ends, a willingness to jettison principles […] More

in Louisiana

Education Reform in Louisiana is Working So Why Are Some Politicians Denying It?

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by Peter Cook 15 September 2015, 15:04

With all of the attention given to New Orleans this summer around the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, you may have missed the good news that’s come out about the performance of students from across Louisiana. The positive results released over the past several months show that the policies advocated by Superintendent John White and […] More

in Media

Inaccuracies, Misrepresentations & Glaring Omissions of Fact Setting The Record Straight On Andrea Gabor's Latest Attack

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by Peter Cook 23 August 2015, 17:03

Well, Andrea Gabor is at it again. A few years ago, Andrea Gabor wrote an article for Newsweek that maligned the transformation of New Orleans’ public schools since Hurricane Katrina. At the time, I wrote a response that exposed the “inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and glaring omissions of fact” in her Newsweek piece – issues that made […] More

in LaLege

Jindal vs. Common Core: Round 3 Three things to keep in mind about Jindal’s latest attack on the Common Core State Standards

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by Peter Cook 22 March 2015, 17:53

Bobby Jindal wanted to be a contender. He wanted to be somebody… …specifically, President of the United States. And for a while, at least – back in the days before his disastrous State of the Union response – everyone thought Jindal was the next big thing. However, over the course of his tenure as Governor, […] More

in Policy

Stop Saying Market-Based Reform. Please.

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by Peter Cook 2 September 2014, 08:30

The expression “market-based reform” (or some variation thereof) gets thrown about by folks on both sides of the education reform debate. Opponents use it as a term of derision, intended to describe what they feel is an impersonal, metrics-obsessed approach to teaching and learning. Among supporters, it has a positive connotation, with advocates incessantly touting […] More

in NOLA

When All Else Fails, File a Civil Rights Complaint

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by Peter Cook 8 July 2014, 16:55

In May, a national coalition that includes the Journey For Justice Alliance (J4J), the Advancement Project, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the National Education Association (NEA), filed a civil rights complaint [see full text of complaint below] alleging that the Recovery School District’s school closure policy “provides circumstantial evidence of intentional discrimination” against […] More

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