John White’s Great Out-of-State Contract Giveaway
Former TFAer and current Louisiana State Superintendent John White was in the hot seat this week as he had to answer to the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee for his and BESE’s (the state education board) budgeting decisions, both for the upcoming year as well as past decisions. One area of concern is altering of language in the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) funding. It is not lost on the lawmakers present in this Wednesday, April 3, meeting that White’s /BESE’s goal is to make the MFP monies available for vouchers to private schools, an issue declared unconstitutional by a Baton Rouge judge on November 30, 2012, and currently under appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
A second concern that the House Appropriations Committee expressed is the “consistent budget surpluses” that LDOE seems to have, and that despite the “tough economic times” requiring the freezing of the state contribution to teachers’ salaries for the past four years. John White insists the LDOE “plays by the rules”; however, the chair of House Appropriations, Jim Fannin, isn’t buying it:
Fannin also accused the Department of Education of purposely overestimating costs in an attempt to
A second concern that the House Appropriations Committee expressed is the “consistent budget surpluses” that LDOE seems to have, and that despite the “tough economic times” requiring the freezing of the state contribution to teachers’ salaries for the past four years. John White insists the LDOE “plays by the rules”; however, the chair of House Appropriations, Jim Fannin, isn’t buying it:
Fannin also accused the Department of Education of purposely overestimating costs in an attempt to