In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) … Your mini news clippings
Common Core Heats Up:
- Students take the tests in March, and we will see how many parents opt out.
- BESE meets tomorrow to discuss a common core compromise, including reviewing the standards, freezing school letter grades, and delaying use of test results in teacher value-added evaluations for another year.
- Governor Jindal unveiled his budget, which would decimate funds for key tests. If Louisiana does not have English and math tests in grades 3-8, it risks losing more than $500 million in federal aid. And, the renewal of the federal NCLB legislation does not offer a way out. Every version so far keeps the testing requirement.
- Scott Angel (R), David Vitter (R), and John Bel Edwards (D) have all come out against common core, calling for Louisiana standards and for Louisiana to not participate in the PARCC test. Jay Dardenne (R) supports the common core standards and comparing our students’ performance to those from across the country.
New Orleans in the News:
A delegation from Georgia, including Governor Nathan Deal, visited New Orleans last weekto hear about lessons learned as Georgia works on its Opportunity School District, modeled after the RSD.
Nevada’s Governor Sandoval is also considering a state takeover of low performing schools.
Steve Scalise (R) says the success of charters in New Orleans shows education policy should be moved to the state and local level.
Neerav Kingsland writes in Education Next that poor educational opportunities will remain the norm unless we tackle the structure of urban school districts.
Charter changes …
The RSD has a more transparent process in siting schools, but it’s hard to make everyone happy. The latest:
- InspireNOLA will take over Andrew Wilson Charter School in New Orleans.
- Livingston school building in eastern New Orleans goes to Collegiate Academies.
- Willie Zanders obtained a temporary restraining order preventing the RSD from naming the charter to occupy the John McDonogh building.
- McDonogh City Park will become part of the ReNew Charter network.
- RSD is recommending BESE not renew Lagniappe’s charter due to flagrant special education violations. Educate Now! agrees with Jarvis DeBerry, “Some things ought to come standard. Among them – compassionate instruction for students with special needs.”
Other New Orleans Stories:
Childhood poverty in New Orleans is back to pre-Katrina levels.
Josh Perry, the executive director of the Louisiana Center for Children’s rights, applauded the RSD for the 39% reduction in expulsions and sounds a cautionary note on the increase in expulsions at McDonogh 35.
Peter Cook takes on Mercedes Schneider’s skewed posts about New Orleans ACT scores.