Lawsuits Archives

in Charters

Down-and-out In Dixie Reformers Need To Rally Behind Mississippi Charter Schools

by Peter Cook 20 March 2017, 14:27

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

in Reform

Quick Take: The Work Isn’t Done St. Landry Is Declared Unitary, But Disparities Remain

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by Peter Cook 5 September 2016, 19:58

Last week, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty dismissed a 47-year old desegregation lawsuit against the St. Landry Parish School Board, ending court oversight of the district after nearly half a century. The dismissal marks the conclusion of a five-year monitoring period agreed to by the district in 2011, in which St. Landry Parish school officials […] More

in Reform

Quick Take: Talking About Education Discussing Schools With Garland Robinette & Chris Stewart

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by Peter Cook 20 August 2016, 22:28

I’ll be on Garland Robinette’s radio show, “The Think Tank” on WWL AM 807/FM 105.3 on Monday to discuss the ongoing legal battle over a new funding plan for New Orleans schools. Earlier this week, attorneys for Lusher and Lake Forest, two selective-admissions charter schools under the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), argued in federal […] More

in Charters

Mississippi Learning? Not If The Southern Poverty Law Center Has Its Way

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by Peter Cook 1 August 2016, 13:32

We have an old saying down here in Louisiana: Thank God for Mississippi. It’s a cynical expression alluding to the fact that no matter how poorly Louisiana fares in national rankings of social and economic health, things for our neighbors in the Magnolia State are almost inevitably worse. That’s especially true when it comes to indicators for children. Just last month, […] More

in Policy

Pastorek Files Intervention In School Funding Lawsuit Parents of Special Needs Students Demand Immediate Adoption of Weighted Funding Plan

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by Peter Cook 4 April 2016, 12:45

Former Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek has filed a petition in federal court to intervene in the lawsuit brought by Lusher and Lake Forest charter schools against the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) over looming changes to the district’s school funding formula. Pastorek, who is a lawyer by trade, filed the intervention on […] More

in NOLA

Louisiana Supreme Court Lays Post-Katrina Teacher Layoff Myths To Rest Ruling Sets The Record Straight On One Of The Most Controversial Events To Emerge From The Disaster

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by Peter Cook 11 November 2014, 04:50

On Halloween, the Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed a class-action lawsuit arising from the layoffs of over 7,600 New Orleans school employees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The 5-2 decision represented a “stunning, wholesale reversal” for the plaintiffs, who prevailed both at trial and before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal; those rulings had found […] More

in NOLA

Three Things to Know About the Teacher Layoff Case

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by Peter Cook 4 September 2014, 08:00

This morning the Louisiana Supreme Court will hear arguments in the appeal of Eddy Oliver, et al. v. Orleans Parish School Board, the lawsuit brought on behalf of teachers terminated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In January, the Fourth Circuit of Court Appeal unanimously upheld an earlier ruling that teachers were wrongly terminated by […] More

in LaLege

An Armchair Psychologist Analyzes Bobby Jindal

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by Peter Cook 28 August 2014, 14:13

On Wednesday, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal opened a new front in his one-man war on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Jindal filed a lawsuit [see complaint below] in federal court that accuses the U.S. Department of Education of violating the Tenth Amendment by essentially forcing states to adopt the standards. Yesterday’s lawsuit comes just […] More

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