John White’s Latest Course Choice Push Equals Large-scale, Free High School Labor
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and his hand-selected, anti-public-school sidekick, State Education Superintendent John White, really want their so-termed “online education” dollar siphon, Course Choice, to be the major death drain that it was intended to be to Louisiana public education.
In May 2013, the Louisiana Supreme Court declared use of Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) funding– intended for Louisiana public schools– unconstitutional for either vouchers or Course Choice.
So, White had to go and “find” some money to make these two programs work. According to this January 2014 Advocate article, Course Choice had been “largely” financed using money from a 1986 federal oil and gas settlement.
However, former Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) employee and education blogger Jason France questions the sloppy, rushed implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)– including White and LDOE’s reneging on a promised curriculum– as a means of freeing up cash in order for LDOE to support vouchers and Course Choice.
And in early 2014, there is some playing with the MFP such that Course Choice might be treated as dual-enrollment (high school courses for which students also