Are union supporters trying to intimidate administrators at Lusher Charter School? That’s the question Lusher community members are asking after middle school principal Charlene Hebert’s car was vandalized outside her home in Algiers Point this week. Hebert was about to leave for work on Thursday morning when she noticed her car windshield was shattered. A […] More
The New Orleans education community was taken by surprise on Monday, when the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced that educators at Lusher Charter School had formed a union. An AFT press release on the move stated: “Educators at Lusher made public their commitment to stand together as the United Teachers of Lusher, an affiliate […] More
Ever since John Bel Edwards’ upset victory in the gubernatorial race last fall, education reform supporters have worried that the Governor would try to roll back many of the policies that have helped raise student achievement across the state. After all, during his tenure in the Louisiana House of Representatives, Edwards opposed Common Core and […] More
I’ll admit, I had a bit of an emotional rollercoaster ride on Twitter on Monday. It all started when I saw this tweet, which made me angry: Hillary Clinton is planning a huge break with Obama on education: https://t.co/95vi3UPyqW pic.twitter.com/9DZAgdhWCN — Vox (@voxdotcom) November 17, 2015 However, when I saw this tweet, I was hopeful […] 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
Google Earth Tour of Locations in Going Backwards John McDonogh: Shooting Cop Criticizes Dead Teen – Mary Foster, Associated Press: April 14, 2003. 1 Slain, 4 Hurt At N.O. School – Brian Thevenot, Times-Picayune: April 15, 2003. One Killed and 3 Are Wounded at New Orleans School – Rick Bragg, New York Times: April 15, […] More
“Dozens of employees indicted or convicted on corruption charges. Tens of millions of dollars unaccounted for. Eight superintendents in seven years. Rock-bottom test scores. Shootings, sirens and police uniforms, often. The threat of bankruptcy and bounced checks, constantly. “In the dismal gallery of failing urban school systems, New Orleans may be the biggest horror of […] More
In case you missed it, on Monday Salon published a lopsided piece (In Salon? No kidding.) by Jennifer “Edushyster” Berkshire on New Orleans’ school reforms that painted a very misleading portrait of things on the ground in the Big Easy. I thought I would add much needed clarifications and context to the piece (which I’ve […] More
Last week, Will Sentell at The Advocate reported that a panel appointed by the Legislature to review Louisiana’s teacher evaluation system is gearing up to recommend a series of changes that could seriously undermine efforts to ensure every child has an effective teacher. The 17-member School Accountability Commission began its review back in October and […] More
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
It’s been a tough couple weeks for our friends at the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT). On October 15th, the Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Act 1 is constitutional, overturning a lower court’s finding that the law violates the “single object requirement” of the Louisiana Constitution that prohibits the legislature from passing bills with […] More
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
Peter Cook