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06/01/2006 - For Many, Education Is Another Storm Victim
"For hundreds of children at Renaissance Village, this is their lost year. After fleeing Hurricane Katrina, they have landed in a vast gravel moonscape of government trailers, lacking even a playground." Read on in the New York Times.
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06/01/2006 - Bill Allowing Nepotism Slack Idles in Senate
"Legislation to allow school officials in rural parishes to hire their relatives for top jobs got bottled up in a Senate committee Wednesday." Read on in The Advocate.
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05/30/2006 - Legislators Ponder Statewide Dual Enrollment Program
"High school juniors and seniors may have a shot at free college credit next year. State legislators are considering a $2 million dual enrollment pilot program that would provide scholarships to needy students who want to earn high school and college credit at the same time." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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05/30/2006 - A Test of Endurance
"Considering the turmoil caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, there was every reason for achievement test scores to plummet in South Louisiana." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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05/28/2006 - Science Test
"At first glance the latest test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress appear to tell us something we already know, namely that Americans don't do well at science and aren't getting any better." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/25/2006 - Elementary Schoolers Climb in Science Scores
"America's science grades are in, and the report card offers yet more evidence to those who say the country needs to do a better job educating its high school students." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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05/24/2006 - Future Looks Troubled Without Education Reform
"A recent presentation here by a nonprofit education reform group called Next Horizon contained several thought-provoking messages. Perhaps the most disturbing one implied – logically- that if the achievement gap between minority and white students persists, democracy in this country may be threatened." Read on in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.
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05/23/2006 - Dropout Data Raise Questions on 2 Fronts
"Economic Larry Mishel was troubled by high school graduation statistics that contradicted what he thought was good research. That was particularly true of data used by many politicians and pundits to bemoan a 30 percent dropout rate in American high schools." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/23/2006 - School 24/7
"Traditional universities like LSU are doing a dismal job of accommodating the needs of older students with careers and families to juggle – even while so-called proprietary universities, with more flexibility built into their class schedules, are scooping up many of those very same nontraditional students." Read on in the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.
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05/22/2006 - More Children Left Behind
"Imagine being the parent of a child enrolled in a school that isn't working. You can't send him to a private school because you can't afford it, nor another public school because there's no room. Every day he comes home from school depressed and disengaged." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/22/2006 - Teachers Foot Bill for Supplies
"The closing of a school year is a good time to acknowledge the many contributions that teachers make to the lives of children – contributions that sometimes come out of the teachers' own wallets and pocketbooks." Read on in The Advocate.
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05/19/2006 - LSU System's Attempt to Raise Tution Stalls
"The LSU System on Thursday lost its attempt to charge its 31,000 students an additional $150 a semester to raise $12.5 million – for now." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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05/18/2006 - 2 States to Experiment With 'No Child' Changes
"Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced yesterday that under a new pilot program, North Carolina and Tennessee will be the first states permitted to change the way they assess student progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/17/2006 - For Graduates, Student Loans Turn Into an Albatross
"Helen Lowery graduated for Boston University last Sunday with a bachelor’s degree – and $22,000 in loans. But that $22,000 isn’t stopping the psychology major: She plans to attend American University’s Washington College of Law this fall, where she expects to borrow money again – this time, $120,000." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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05/15/2006 - Reconnecting Young Black Men
"It’s high school graduation season across America – a time of caps, gowns, big parties, and bigger plans." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/13/2006 - LEAP Scores Marked by Katrina Aftermath
"State education officials released results Friday from the first batch of statewide tests since Hurricane Katrina, cautioning that they be viewed in light of widespread devastation that displaced nearly 200,000 public school students." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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05/10/2006 - Reining in Charter Schools
"The charter school movement began with the tantalizing promise that independently operated schools would outperform their traditional counterparts – if they could only be exempted from state regulations while receiving public money." Read on in the New York Times.
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05/09/2006 - Half of Teachers Quit in 5 Years
"Jessica Jentis fit the profile of a typical American teacher: She was white, held a master’s degree and quit 2 1/2 years after starting her career." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/08/2006 - School Reform in Danger
"This was supposed to be a landmark year for the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires the state to close the achievement gap between white and minority students in exchange for federal education dollars." Read on in the New York Times.
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05/08/2006 - Aid for Students a Plus for State
"Steps by state education officials to lure thousands of students displaced by last year’s hurricanes back to Louisiana colleges and universities offer an encouraging boost for the future." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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05/08/2006 - Lower Ed
"The $74.5 million in state cuts to higher education in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans-area colleges and universities to eliminate faculty, staff and academic program." Read on in New Orleans CityBusiness.
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05/04/2006 - State Gets C Grade for School Technology
"Louisiana earned a C Wednesday from a prominent national education publication for its efforts to improve access, use and training in educational technology." Read on in The Advocate.
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05/03/2006 - Volunteer Efforts Spark Push for Public Service Academy
"Teach for American veteran Chris Myers Asch has done his bit for public service. After teaching fifth- and sixth-graders for three years in Sunflower County, Miss., as part of the nonprofit teacher-recruiting program, Asch helped create and lead an organization that mentors the impoverished region’s teenagers and assists them in getting into college." Read on in the Washington Post.
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05/03/2006 - Eligibility Criteria Announced for New College Aid Program
"The Department of Education announced yesterday which low-income students might be eligible this fall for a share of $790 million under a major new aid program and estimated that it would disburse about 500,000 of the grants, which Congress created to encourage science, mathematics and language study." Read on in the New York Times.
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04/30/2006 - Science Panel Report Says Physics in U.S. Faces Crisis
"Physics in America is at a crossroads and in crisis, just as humanity stands on the verge of great discoveries about the nature of matter and the universe, a panel from the National Academy of Sciences concludes in a new report." Read on in the New York Times.
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04/28/2006 - Bills Aiming to Revamp TOPS Die in Committee
"Two bills that would have drastically changed the state’s most-popular tuition program died Thursday in a Senate committee." Read on in The Advocate.
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04/27/2006 - Classroom Confidential
"Following a number of high-profile sex abuse scandals, high schools across the country have begun carefully policing teacher-student relationships. But is this new vigilance keeping the most committed teachers from doing their best?" Read on in Salon.
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04/27/2006 - School Aid Lags, House Demos Say
"Saying that schools aren’t getting the help they need to rebuild after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a group of Democratic House members Wednesday called for appointment of an “education recovery czar” to supersede the Federal Emergency Management Agency." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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04/23/2006 - Saving Democracy, Pupil by Pupil
"Between them, Sandra Day O’Connor and Roy Romer have had enough successful careers to satisfy half a dozen ambitious individuals." Read on in the Washington Post.
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04/23/2006 - Superintendent Pay Varies Widely in Louisiana
"School Superintendents Ollie Tyler and Kay Easley have a lot in common. Their job is the same, even though Tyler oversee nearly 44,000 students in Caddo Parish and Easley rides herd on 1,600 Red River Parish students." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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04/22/2006 - School System Will Be Unique in Nation
"Paving the way for a public education system unlike any other in the nation, state officials who took over most district campuses last fall say New Orleans parents will be able to choose from about 50 schools reopening this August with capacity for 34,000 students." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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04/21/2006 - Orleans School District Asks State to Adjust Takeover Law
"Coping with a reduced revenue stream, the Orleans Parish School District is appealing to the Legislature to adjust a post-Katrina school takeover law that eventually will leave the district unable to make ends meet." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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04/20/2006 - Expand the Pool of America's Future Scientists
"The conventional wisdom among business leaders and politicians is that vast hordes of highly trained Chinese engineering students are poised to descend, Khan-like, upon the plains of the global labor market, leaving the ruins of the American economy in their wake." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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04/19/2006 - Boys Are No Match for Girls in Completing High School
"Nationwide, about 72 percent of the girls in the high school class of 2003 – but only 65 percent of the boys – earned diplomas, a gender gap that is far more pronounced among minorities, according to a report being released today by the Manhattan Institute." Read on in the New York Times.
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04/18/2006 - Katrina, Rita Could Keep Out One Student Score in Six
"While many states have exploited a loophole that lets large numbers of students’ performance scores go uncounted when schools are evaluated under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Louisiana is not among them." Read on in the Houma Courier.
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04/18/2006 - As Many Dropouts as Degrees
"U.S. high schools and doctoral programs share a problem: How do they keep their students enrolled long enough to get a degree?" Read on in the Washington Post.
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04/15/2006 - Major Decisions for Minors
"The Florida Legislature is closing in on a law that would require students to declare a major and a minor when they enter high school. Unsurprisingly, a cohort of free thinkers isn’t liking this at all." Read on in the Los Angeles Times.
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04/10/2006 - Complex Funding Formula Mystifies State Lawmakers
"The formula for funding public schools in Louisiana is so mind-addling even state officials who use it have complained they don’t understand it." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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04/06/2006 - School Funding Formula Headed for Rewrite
"The proposed formula for funding public schools in unrealistic and has to be rewritten if it is to gain legislative approval, state lawmakers said Wednesday." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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04/05/2006 - Chancellors: Retaining Faculty Hard
"Budget cuts and uncertainty stemming from the hurricanes have made it tougher to retain top-flight faculty, chancellors of three LSU system campuses told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/30/2006 - Education Funding Likely To Be a Battle
"Differences in opinion over whether $2,300 each is enough to educate Louisiana students and how much money should go to hurricane-damaged school districts are setting the stage for a battle of wills in the Legislature." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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03/27/2006 - State Testing Program Adapts
"After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita scattered students, destroyed buildings and temporarily halted public education in south Louisiana, the state is rolling out a dramatic overhaul of its score-driven accountability system, allowing the hardest-hit schools to scrap their prestorm status and embark on a statistical rebirth." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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03/25/2006 - Not By Math Alone
"Fierce global competition prompted President Bush to use the State of the Union address to call for better math and science education, where there’s evidence that many schools are falling short." Read on in the Washington Post.
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03/24/2006 - Proposals Take Aim at TOPS Changes
"Seven lawmakers will take stabs at changing the state’s most-popular scholarship program in the upcoming legislative session." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/23/2006 - State School's Storm Aid Less Than Expected
"Public schools in East Baton Rouge Parish and elsewhere will receive up to one-third less federal aid than expected for teaching students displaced by the hurricanes, state officials said Wednesday." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/22/2006 - Educators Renew Pleas for Federal Aid
"For 90 minutes Tuesday afternoon, visiting members of Congress sat silent as teachers, school administrators and students told of heart-wrenching struggles to educate young people after Hurricane Katrina plowed through, and all of their stores came down to one word: Money." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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03/21/2006 - Illinois Leads New Push for Universal Preschool
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03/18/2006 - School District Scores Improve
"Testing conducted a year ago shows that almost every Louisiana district improved student performance, but education officials won’t predict what the post-hurricane scores will be from next week’s testing." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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03/17/2006 - Survey: Few Teachers Plan to Quit
"Only 11 percent of East Baton Rouge Parish public schoolteachers say they plan to leave the profession in the next five years, while 68 percent say they’re going to stay, according to the results of an internal survey." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/15/2006 - $111 Million Sought for Schools
"Prodded by pleas from superintendents, and state’s top school board took a controversial step Tuesday by requesting an estimated $111 million in new aid for public schools." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/14/2006 - Blanco Outmaneuvers Republicans on Teacher Pay
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco is kicking up some stagnant political dust by using her campaign funds to buy radio commercials to promote her proposed pay raise for teachers and college faculty." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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03/13/2006 - EBR Officials Visit NY, See What Works
"The answer to the problems in America’s urban schools may lie in more freedom to experiment for principals and teachers." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/13/2006 - N.O. Schools Open Slowly But Strongly
"A mid-morning stroll through Eleanor McMain Secondary School on South Claiborne Avenue Uptown reveals the daily routine of a normal high school." Read on in New Orleans CityBusiness.
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03/09/2006 - Fight Looms Over School Financing
"The dire needs of school systems recovering from hurricanes clashed with those of other Louisiana regions as state education officials on Wednesday presented legislators with a $2.6 billion draft plan for financing public schools." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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03/09/2006 - Board Approves Tech College System Revamp
"The overhaul of the state’s technical college system could save $1.5 million next year, but fewer top-level positions will be cut than first anticipated." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/08/2006 - Early Visits Lure Poor Into College
"Growing up in a working-class Boston neighborhood, Leide Cabral’s path to college wasn’t always clear. “I wanted to go, but I didn’t know how that was going to happen,” the high school senior says." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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03/05/2006 - A Test Colleges Don't Need
"The New York Times reported last month that a national commission appointed by the Bush administration is considering the use of standardized tests to discover how much college students learn. Campus newspapers across the country have commented extensively on the story." Read on in the Washington Post.
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03/04/2006 - Blanco Pushes Teacher Pay Raise
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco wants to spend $135.5 million to give public schoolteachers and college professors a pay raise." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/04/2006 - Teacher Pay Reform Challenges States
"Paying teachers based on talent and student performance instead of seniority is gaining traction in the states thanks to support from governors and new federal incentives to tie teacher pay to student achievement." Read on in Stateline.org.
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03/03/2006 - Blanco's Proposal Would Restore Cuts to Higher Education
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco will propose restoring spending cuts to higher education made last fall, a move that could eliminate talk of an immediate need for tuition increases for the approximately 189,000 students enrolled in Louisiana’s public colleges and universities." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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03/03/2006 - Doubt Cast on States' Education Standards
"Louisiana and other states might be shortchanging public school students through lenient test policies, a national report issued Thursday says." Read on in The Advocate.
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03/02/2006 - Union Leader: Teachers Want $4,000 in Raises
"Public schoolteachers are looking for a pay raise of about $4,000 each over two years, the president of one of Louisiana’s two largest teacher unions said Wednesday." Read on in The Advocate.
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02/26/2006 - The Dropout Challenge
"They number in the millions – 3.5 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 25 who have dropped out of high school and were not enrolled in school in 2003, the most recent year for which an estimate is available." Read on in the Washington Post.
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02/25/2006 - Blanco Proposing Raises for Teachers
"With an unexpected surge in state tax revenue generating $400 million more than forecasters had predicted in the wake of two devastating hurricanes, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Friday that she plans to include a pay raise for public school teachers in the budget she will present to the Legislature next month." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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02/24/2006 - Colleges Say Raise Tuition
"College leaders want to charge student more and said Thursday they need higher tuition to save higher education." Read on in The Advocate.
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02/23/2006 - Study: State High Schools Fail in Preparing Students
"High schools in Louisiana and elsewhere are failing to adequately prepare high-school students for college and the workplace, a national study released Wednesday said." Read on in The Advocate.
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02/22/2006 - Keep Higher Education Needs in Focus
"Based on my experience over the past 10 years in various leadership capacities with LSU, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, and the new Louisiana Recovery Authority, I write to share some insights about the status of higher education in Louisiana and about important questions being asked." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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02/22/2006 - A Phony Science Gap?
"It’s true that in a “knowledge economy” – one where new information and ideas increasingly form the basis of useful products and government programs – nations need an adequate science and engineering (S & E) workforce." Read on in the Washington Post.
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02/18/2006 - Storm Aid for Colleges Fails State Panel's Test
"A state budget panel balked Friday at distributing $95 million in federal aid for colleges and universities that were hardest hit by the recent hurricanes, arguing that the formula for distributing the money is unfair." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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02/16/2006 - Adjust the Balance of Debt and Education
"You don’t have to be in college, or have a child who is, to realize that the student loan crisis is close to a tipping point. In 2004, the average loan burden of graduates, $17,600, nearly matched the maximum that undergraduates are allowed to borrow from the federal loan program over four years." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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02/15/2006 - AP Classes Need Boost in State
"Every student in Louisiana deserves a chance to take Advanced Placement courses, but sadly, too few of them have that opportunity and too few who do have it take advantage of it." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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02/13/2006 - Missing School in the Big Easy
"Asta Levene, an artist and interior decorator from New Orleans’ French Quarter, has high cheekbones, black hair with funky blond streaks and a Lithuanian accent. She also has a 10-year-old son who hasn’t been in school for months." Read on in Salon.
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02/07/2006 - Storms Can Push Education Ahead
"From K-12 to trade schools to universities, hurricanes should energize thinking. Louisiana does indeed have a long road ahead, but if its citizens choose the proverbial less-traveled path, they could find themselves on a high road to something that is indeed better than ever." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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02/05/2006 - From Teachers Pay to Test Scores ... Still a Troubled State
"Sudden shifts in student populations caused by last year’s hurricanes make it unlikely that public school officials will be able to focus immediately on correcting long-standing problems that range from student performance to low pay for teachers." Read on in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.
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02/01/2006 - In a Lean Budget Year, A Pledge for Research
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With Washington bracing for an austere budget year, President Bush last night proposed a 10-year, $136 billion initiative that would double the federal commitment to basic scientific research and train tens of thousands of new math and science teachers." Read on in the Washington Post.
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01/27/2006 - State Panel Pushes Changes for High Schools
"Public high schools students face tougher courses and more tests under a plan unveiled Thursday by a state panel." Read on in The Advocate.
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01/25/2006 - Pre-K Gain Help State Progress
"Started in 2002, a Louisiana public pre-kindergarten program called LA4 has enjoyed the strong support of state Superintendent of Education Cecil Picard, Gov. Mike Foster and his successor, Kathleen Blanco." Read on in The Advocate.
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01/24/2006 - 'Rising Above the Gathering Storm'
"We know American high-tech companies often look abroad for workers who are cheaper. But the situation gets much more dire if they say they need to go overseas just to find employees who are skilled in math and science." Read on in the New York Times.
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01/24/2006 - Area College Students Struggle
"Fewer than half of soon-to-be college graduates can compute and compare the cost per ounce of groceries or contrast views expressed in two newspaper editorials, according to a new study." Read on in The Advocate.
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01/12/2006 - Business Leaders, Educators Toss Out Ideas to Improve Schools
"Catching pupils who struggle earlier than fourth grade and offering more choices to high school students who can’t pass state-required exit tests are among ideas proffered Wednesday at an education forum in Bossier City." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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01/10/2006 - Time to Rethink 'Wonder Years'
"Because eliminating middle schools in favor of K-8 arrangements has resulted in remarkable progress around the country, it is time for a wider test of that concept in local schools and the state of Louisiana. That’s especially critical in large school districts where certain middle schools are failing to make the grade." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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01/06/2006 - Education Ranking Much Too Flattering
"Louisiana’s recent ranking in Education Week is worth noting. The trade journal graded the state high in a number of categories. And, in essence, the publication lauded Louisiana for trying to improve its educational system." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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01/03/2006 - La. Won't Run N.O. Schools By Itself
"State education officials aren’t rushing to open any of the 102 New Orleans public schools in the recently approved recovery district this semester, or even this fall." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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12/23/2005 - School Retool
"Transforming the New Orleans Public School system into an attraction while creating a unified voice in public school decisions making is the key to attracting and retaining business in the city." Read on in New Orleans City Business.
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12/21/2005 - Find True Value of Higher Education
"The recent survey of compensation for college presidents was met with a resounding thud. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last month that for the first time ever a college present – in fact, five of them – earned more than $1 million in a single year." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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12/13/2005 - Panel: Appoint School Board
"The Orleans Public School Board should be appointed rather than elected so that is members are best-qualified to oversee the unique, hybrid school system envisioned for New Orleans, a committee studying how to reform the city’s troubled education system said Monday." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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12/10/2005 - Louisiana Makes Strides in Science
"Students, parents and educators can feel reassured that Louisiana’s academic standards for primary-secondary school science are improving and are indeed among the upper tier in the nation." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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12/08/2005 - La. Joins States' Push for Post-Hurricane Education Funds
"Louisiana Education Superintendent Cecil Picard has joined education officials in other hurricane-affected states pushing Congress for money promised for educating students driven from their homes." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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12/06/2005 - National Certification Translates to Success
"Louisiana’s ranking at ninth among all U.S. states for the number of teachers receiving a benchmark national certification this year ultimately translates to more progress for Louisiana students." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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12/04/2005 - Disappearing Act
"In the 1990s, I taught for six years at a small liberal arts college in Spokane, Wash. In my third year, I started noticing something that was happening right in front of me. There were more young women in my classes than young men, and on average, they were getting better grades than the guys." Read on in the Washington Post.
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11/30/2005 - School Lose Round in NLCB Challenge
"Efforts to force the federal government to shoulder the entire cost of education programs required by the No Child Left Behind law have suffered a major legal setback." Read on in Stateline.org.
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11/27/2005 - Higher Education Is Down But Not Out
"Louisiana’s colleges and universities have been drastically altered this year, first due to hurricane devastation and displacement of 83,000 students, and then the $71.4 million in cuts they must bear during the current academic year." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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11/23/2005 - Groups Set to Contest Student Loan Cuts
"The fight is about to begin as hundreds of education, student and social service organizations plan to battle Congress over proposals that could add up to the largest student loan cuts in history." Read on in the Washington Post.
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11/23/2005 - State to Run Orleans Schools
"The state Department of Education is poised to take over another 102 public schools in New Orleans as the House gave final approval Tuesday to legislation to strip the Orleans Parish School Board of its authority over all but 13 campuses." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/22/2005 - Bush Administration Grants Leeway on 'No Child' Rules
"The Bush administration has begun to ease some key rules for the controversial No Child Left Behind law, opening the door to a new way to rate schools, granting a few urban systems permission to provide federally subsidized tutoring and allowing certain states more time to meet teacher-quality requirements." Read on in the Washington Post.
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11/19/2005 - A New Beginning
"Orleans Parish schools could have limped along for years suffering from the bad management and lost opportunities of the past. Hurricane Katrina, in all its fury, changed their destiny." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/17/2005 - Surest Path for Schools
"Parents and schoolchildren who depend on Orleans parish public schools have endured years of dysfunction and failure. So it’s easy to understand the appeal of a proposed wholesale takeover of New Orleans public schools by the state." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/15/2005 - Legislature OKs School Takeover
"Signaling the overwhelming frustration with the Legislature with the New Orleans school system, both the House and Senate voted Monday to approve Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s proposal to shift responsibility for reopening and running most of the city schools to the state Department of Education." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/11/2005 - Senate Panel OKs School Takeover Bill
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s legislation to give the state control of most New Orleans schools continued to move swiftly Thursday, while emotional opposition also persisted from two usual allies of the Democratic governor: many African-American members of the Orleans Parish delegation and teacher unions." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/10/2005 - BESE Drafts School Financing Plan
"School districts that have taken in students from parishes devastated by the recent hurricanes will receive a one-time allowance of $1,000 per student from the state, according to a plan approved Wednesday by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/09/2005 - N.O. Schools Takeover Idea Has Legs
"The Legislature is moving quickly on Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s plan to put the state in charge of running most of the schools in New Orleans, with both the House and Senate education panels considering the proposed legislation this week." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/06/2005 - TOPS Still Could Be Subject to Budget Cuts
"Two hurricanes and a subsequent $1 billion hole in Louisiana’s budget may have put one of the most popular state programs in jeopardy." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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11/04/2005 - Senate Approves School Payback
"The Senate on Thursday approved a $1.6 billion emergency education package that would reimburse private and public schools for taking in students displaced by Hurricane Katrina." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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11/03/2005 - Making Students Pay
"It’s complicated, byzantine and – let’s face it – not the world’s most fascinating subject. Even so, it’s hard to understand why the federal student loan program attracts so little outside scrutiny." Read on in the Washington Post.
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11/03/2005 - Making Students Pay
"It’s complicated, byzantine and – let’s face it – not the world’s most fascinating subject. Even so, it’s hard to understand why the federal student loan program attracts so little outside scrutiny." Read on in the Washington Post.
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11/02/2005 - Blanco Backs State Takeover of N.O. Schools
"In a move that would give the state unprecedented authority over local public schools, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday she will back legislation during the upcoming special session to put most New Orleans schools under state control." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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10/28/2005 - '65 Cent Solution' Takes on Ed Establishment
"A fledgling national advocacy group aims to force school districts nationwide to boost spending in the classroom, not by raising taxes, but by cutting back on administrative support and services such as busing and counseling." Read on in Stateline.org.
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10/21/2005 - Student Loan Scam (Cont'd)
"Does Congress really want to save money? Are Republican leaders really committed to balancing the budget? Judging by recent action of both the House and Senate education committees, the answer is no." Read on in the Washington Post.
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10/20/2005 - GOP to Seek Student Vouchers
"Legislation that would provide vouchers for student displaced by Hurricane Katrina will be introduced today by House Republicans." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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10/20/2005 - BESE Debates Funding Changes
"State education leaders Monday began debate on a plan that would make major cuts in state aid to public schools because of Louisiana’s two deadly hurricanes." Read on in The Advocate.
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10/19/2005 - Students Show Few Gains Since 'No Child'
"Despite a new federal educational testing law championed by the Bush administration, scores among fourth and eighth graders failed to show any improvements in reading, and showed only slow gain in math nationally during the past two years, according to a study released today." Read on in the Washington Post.
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09/30/2005 - 'No Child' Rules to Be Eased for a Year
"Under pressure from hurricane-stressed states, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced yesterday that the agency will for one year relax academic accountability standards under the administration’s signature education initiative, allowing schools affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita to recoup without facing penalties for poor annual assessments." Read on in the Washington Post.
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09/29/2005 - Accountability Grace Period Carries a Risk
"Education is the essential building block to a new Louisiana. Has Katrina and now Rita not only blown away homes and livelihoods, but the state’s education accountability program?" Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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09/26/2005 - Don't Put Colleges in Financial Bind
"Spending freeze could create unintended consequences. The governor’s prudent steps to freeze state spending as Louisiana adjusts to revenues knocked out by Hurricanes Katrina – and now Rita – should be ready to adjust to unintended consequences." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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09/20/2005 - Bush Proposes Vouchers for All Displaced Students
"Under President Bush’s plan to cover most of the cost of educating students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, parents could enroll their students in a private or religious school this year at federal expense, even if they had gone to public schools back home, administration officials said yesterday." Read on in the Washington Post.
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09/19/2005 - Separate Schols for Katrina Student?
"Texas officials want to waive federal rules that prevent schools from segregating homeless students. But advocates and others are crying foul." Read on in Salon.
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09/18/2005 - Now is the Chance to Remake New Orleans Schools
"When Gov. Kathleen Blanco thanked heroic first responders during her first post-Hurricane Katrina speech last week, the state legislators who made up the bulk of her audience stood and applauded, just as they should have." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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09/14/2005 - State Will Seek Waivers from Federal Education Mandate
"With 186,000 of their student displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana’s top education officials plan to ask the federal government to exempt the state from stringent accountability requirements." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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09/09/2005 - Prospects of Teacher Raise Blown Away
"Hurricane Katrina likely eliminated any chance for a substantial statewide teacher pay raise because any state budget surpluses created by high oil prices will have to be used to pay costs associated with the Aug. 29 storm, legislative leaders said Wednesday." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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08/24/2005 - Americans Grow Skeptical as School Reform Takes Toll
"The more Americans learn about Washington’s new guiding hand in the nation’s schools, the less they like it." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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08/18/2005 - Help to Provide a Better Education for All Students
"I agree that the goal of the No Child Left Behind program is certainly very commendable, but I believe there are better ways to help each child develop his own potential to the highest level possible." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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08/17/2005 - Charters Considered a Great Experiment
"If a group seeking to transform the controversial Lusher campus into a charter school succeeds, it will become part of what state officials still consider a great experiment." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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08/15/2005 - Educators Tout State's Classroom Gain in Washington
"A trio of state educators including Glenny Lee Buquet of Houma smoke to a Washington, D.C., group this morning about the high quality of teachers leading Louisiana’s public-school classrooms." Read on in the Houma Courier.
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08/13/2005 - Omission of Factual Information from School Textbooks Disturbing
"In the 1960s the pressing questions on education were “Why can’t Johnny read?” and “What’s with that new math?” The Bush administration developed the No Child Left Behind doctrine to give the appearance of a nurturing attitude towards education. Then it decided not to fun the program." Read on in the Sheveport Times.
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08/09/2005 - Does Money Transform Schools?
"Here in Illinois, how much money a school has – and whether it can offer extras like foreign languages and AP classes, or even pay for basic facilities – depends mostly on where that school is." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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08/08/2005 - State's Properity Rests on Education
"Nothing influences a state’s prosperity more than the education of its people. But a respected education board worries that the South’s progress in education “could come to an historically unprecedented halt” unless fast-growing minority groups raise their overall enrollment in colleges and universities." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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08/05/2005 - Muster Resources for Failing Schools
"And so it begins, the true test of Louisiana’s school accountability program." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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08/05/2005 - Why the Rise in Pupils' Test Scores? The South
"Americans cheered the latest release of the test called “the nation’s report card,” which showed marked long-term gains in math and reading for elementary and junior high students. But the loudest applause is due for the South, as it turns out." Read on in The Christian Science Monitor.
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07/26/2005 - Federal Education Secretary Wants to Extend Testing
"U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings says she’s not giving up on a Bush administration proposal to expand the No Child Left Behind accountability law to high schools, although it has met surprising opposition in the GOP-led Senate and House." Read on in the Times-Picayune.
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07/16/2005 - EarlySteps Issue Ill-Handled
"To offer assistance – and hope- to families with developmentally disabled children and then to jerk it away represents the height of insensitivity and penny-wise, pound-poor decision-making that comes along with government bureaucracy. In the midst of an imperfect and complicated world of federal and state funding, Medicaid red tape and family and taxpayer advocacy, there sits an innocent child whose future is the political football in a game of keep-away." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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07/08/2005 - Protect, Cherish Our Own Wetlands
"Perhaps some of the Captain Shreve High School students who will be studying “swampology” in the coming year will be the future Louisiana leaders who will find solutions to the state’s coastal erosion crisis or the problem affecting wetlands and plants statewide." Read on in the Shreveport Times.
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07/06/2005 - Opinion: Special Legislative Session Should be Given Consideration
"We usually oppose special legislative sessions because they are expensive and often totally unproductive. If Gov. Kathleen Blanco decides to call legislators back to again push her program for teacher pay increases, however, we would support the decision." Read on in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.
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07/04/2005 - Devoted to God, but Not the Pledge
"Edward R. Myers used to ride motorcycles and fly his own airplane. But all that seemed too dangerous after he got married and had children. So the Sterling man took up a new pastime: suing the government." Read on in the Washington Post.
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07/01/2005 - Free Willie: An Environmental Studies Class Fight for Fontenot
"In today's terror-fighting climate, do students and teachers still have the fight to take field trips on public property? Thirteen students, two teachers and Willife Fontenot may learn that answer the hard way." Read on in The Environmental Magazine.
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