We’re just 55 days out from the start of the 2015 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, and once again, I’ll be covering all of the edu-legislative action this spring over at my other blog: PE + CO: Louisiana Education Legislation Update. In the meantime, read more about the upcoming legislative session below… More
This post was originally published on PE+CO: Louisiana Education Legislation Update While the inimitable Huey P. Long has gone down in history as “The Kingfish,” to his political opponents he was known by another, less flattering name, “The Dictator of Louisiana,” a reference to his unrelenting pursuit of power as governor, and subsequently as a […] More
Update 01/27/14: Leslie Jacobs, former BESE/OPSB member and founder of EducateNow!, says claims that the teachers’ lawsuit could bankrupt the Orleans Parish School Board are unfounded: “School boards are ‘political subdivisions’ of the state, and both the Louisiana Constitution and the Governmental Claims Act protect political subdivisions from having their property or assets seized in execution […] More
The one thing that is clear to anyone who’s attempted to read Mercedes Schneider’s blog is that she’s angry: angry at John Merrow, angry about Common Core, angry about evolution, and angry at Teach For America, along with a whole host of other things. However, she reserves her greatest fury for the Recovery School District’s effort to improve […] More
Recently Newsweek, the once-lauded news magazine that is now a shell of its former self, cast aside any lingering shred of respectability it still had with the publication of a highly distorted appraisal of New Orleans’ post-Katrina education system. The piece, entitled, The Great Charter Tryout: Are New Orleans’ schools a model for the nation – […] More
Part IV: Strategic Planning: The final installment of a four-part series exploring the reform of the Jefferson Parish Public School System JPPSS Superintendent James Meza turned to Mass Insight Education (MIE) for help in developing a plan that would help achieve his vision of a leaner, more decentralized school system focused on supporting schools. MIE’s collaboration with JPPSS […] More
Part III: Determined Leadership: The third installment in a four-part series exploring the reform of the Jefferson Parish Public School System In an exchange over his proposed reorganization plan at a board meeting last April, Dr. James Meza said what, in effect, has been his mantra since assuming the district’s top post: “We’ve got to be […] More
Part I: Introduction to JPPSS: The first installment in a four-part series exploring the reform of the Jefferson Parish Public School System Louisiana has garnered national recognition in recent years for “putting students first in its education policies,” and for its leadership in education reform. While much of this attention has focused on the transformation of […] More
With the final adjournment of the eight-week political marathon that was the 2013 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature yesterday, it’s time to step back and assess the session’s impact our state’s education policies. First, the good news… Thankfully, the most regressive education-related bills filed by lawmakers either failed or were rendered harmless through amendment. […] More
Earlier today, the Senate Education Committee considered House Bill 160, proposed by Rep. Gene Reynolds (D – Dist. 10), which would have delayed the full implementation of Compass, the state’s teacher evaluation system, until the 2014-15 school year. Although Rep. Reynolds stressed to the committee that he was seeking a delay only so that kinks in the system could be ironed out, […] More
Here are some of the hot-button education bills the Senate Education Committee is slated to consider today: Bill# Bill Description Notes HB115 Provides for parent petitions relative to the transfer of certain schools from the Recovery School District back to the local school system Amended in committee to exclude Type 5 charter schools, thereby making […] More
Below are updates on selected education-related bills up for consideration before the 2013 Legislative Session of the Louisiana Legislature: Bill# Bill Description Notes HB115 Provides for parent petitions relative to the transfer of certain schools from the Recovery School District back to the local school system Amended in committee to exclude Type 5 charter schools, […] More
Peter Cook