Education system has been hijacked | The News Star | thenewsstar.com

Education system has been hijacked | The News Star | thenewsstar.com:

Education system has been hijacked

9:20 PM, Sep. 2, 2011 |

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It is wrong to assume that anything done to our public schools under the title of education reform is a good thing. I believe the Louisiana education accountability system, which started off as a good idea, has been hijacked by special interests who are pushing for the privatization of our public schools. Despite an aggressive PR campaign in favor of this movement, there is no real evidence that this push to privatization is good for students, but there is plenty of evidence of harmful effects.

Our education accountability system in Louisiana allows for the takeover of low-performing public schools by the state. But recent changes allow most of these school takeovers to be converted into charter schools. These takeover charter schools can be a windfall for private individuals and groups who want to profit from school takeover.

Unfortunately, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary