In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) … Your mini news clippings
Looking for Everyday Heroes
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune is profiling everyday heroes who fill the New Orleans area with hope. If you know someone who is trying to create a better future for metro New Orleans – one school, one church, one neighborhood, one cause at a time – nominate them using this online form, or by emailing heroes@nola.com, or by sending a letter to Future of New Orleans, c/o NOLA Media Group, One Canal Place, 365 Canal Street, Suite 3100, New Orleans LA 70130.
Time to Talk about Career-Tech
Shane Haggerty of the Tolles Career & Technical Center says it’s time we talk about career-tech. The emphasis on a traditional four-year college pathway has led to a disconnect between education and opportunity, and too many college graduates are struggling financially because they were never given all the educational pathway options in high school.
In Louisiana, four students who are pursuing the state’s revamped career education path say the courses are making a difference and changing lives.
Louisiana Voucher Updates
A study of the first year of Louisiana’s voucher program found students in voucher schools performed worse on state tests than their peers in public schools who applied for, but did not receive, a voucher seat. One analyst theorized that the best private schools opted out of the program, in part because they aren’t allowed to set admissions criteria or charge additional tuition. State Superintendent John White responded that it’s wrong to draw sweeping conclusions based on just the first year of data and argued that allowing admissions criteria would undermine the program’s goal of expanding educational opportunity.
Tulane’s Education Research Alliance studied voucher applications and found half of private voucher school applicants also applied to public schools and about a third listed a public school as their top choice.
National Stories
After a panel of education experts studied what high performing countries can teach the U.S. about teacher training, they recommended that U.S. programs should have future teachers spend significantly more time in classrooms, focus more on deepening a teacher’s knowledge of a subject-area, and give teachers the tools they need to know if what they’re doing in the classroom is working.
The U.S. Supreme Court appears open to overruling a key precedent that says government workers (including teachers) who chose not to join a union can still be forced to pay agency dues to cover the cost of collective bargaining.
ACT is offering a new, low-cost, online prep program to help students prepare for the exam. The revamped ACT Online Prep program is easier to use and more personalized than its predecessor.
Local Leadership Updates
Seth Bloom and Cynthia Cade were unanimously re-elected as OPSB’s president and vice president.
Ben Franklin High School hired a new principal, Patrick Wildham, who is currently director of the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts.
Gary Robichaux, founder of ReNEW Schools, is stepping down as chief executive to become the network’s chief advocacy officer. He will be replaced by Colleen Mackay, ReNEW’s chief of staff.
The Algiers Charter School Association fired its chief executive, Adrian Morgan, and promoted principal Rene Lewis-Carter in his place. The board voted on the changes again, possibly in response to concerns that they hadn’t followed public meeting laws.
The CEO of New Beginnings, Sametta Brown, has resigned and will leave the charter network in June.
More Local News
BESE approved eleven New Orleans charter schools for renewals or extensions. Renewals: Lycée Français, for seven years; Fannie C. Williams and Harriet Tubman for six years; KIPP Central City Primary, KIPP McDonogh No. 15, and Pierre Capdau for five years; and ReNEW Delores T. Aaron Elementary for three. Extensions (granted for one year to complete original five-year contracts): Cohen College Prep, Joseph Craig Charter, Langston Hughes Charter, and McDonogh No. 42.
Alfred Lawless Senior High alumni are pushing back against renaming the Lawless campus to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter.
Shout Outs!
The MIT Lincoln Laboratory and NASA named a minor planet after Keiana Cavé, a senior at Lusher Charter School, in honor of Keiana’s second place win at the International Science and Engineering Fair.
Neerav Kingsland has been chosen to manage a $100 million education fund created by Netflix founder and chief executive Reed Hasting.
The Rex Organization awarded $1 million in grants to 60 local schools and education groups through its Pro Bono Publico Foundation.