April 24th, 2013: A Pivotal Day for Louisiana Education
The 2012 Louisiana legislative session yielded two mammoth, anti-teacher, pro-privatization laws, Acts 1 (Teacher Evaluation and Tenure; Role of School Boards, among other changes) and Act 2 (Vouchers). Fortunately, canning both teachers and schools is not proceeding as smoothly as both Governor Bobby Jindal and State Superintendent John White would have liked. Both Acts 1 and 2 are currently under appeal with the Louisiana Supreme Court. Both were declared unconstitutional in the lower courts; Act 1, for including “more than one object,” and Act 2, for using MFP (minimum Foundation Program) funding to support schools and programs not considered “public schools.”
Act 2 has been heard in court; no judgment has been issued.
Act 1 is under appeal to the Supreme Court but has not yet been heard.
Until the Supreme Court issues its judgments on these two bills, both are in force.
As to education bills proposed for this legislative session, I received information regarding a number of these bills in an email from fellow Louisiana education blogger Mike Deshotels, who blogs at louisianaeducator.blogspot.com. Most of the proposed bills mentioned below involve the division of or