Lousiana's BESE is not about education

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is NOT about the business of educational reform in Louisiana, but, instead, about educational control.  Govenor “Bobby” wanted a BESE Board that would rubber stamp his proposals, some of which included the teaching of creationism in our schools, the expansion of the voucher system, the steering of school management to companies that contributed heavily to elected officials’ campaigns, and the elimination of unions and collective bargaining.

 And contrary to the myth which served as the major campaign talking point upon which these  Jindal candidates were elected, and continues to grow by leaps and bounds in our nation, namely, charter schools are  good, and non-charter schools are bad, education is about how a school is run.  It doesn’t require a charter model to effectively run a school.  It’s all about the school leadership and staff.

As presently implemented in New Orleans, charters for the most part are still about exclusion.  Exclusion upon admission, and exclusion after discipline problems occur.  The present charter system denies both these accusations, but they still exist as the best kept secret, and the population that charters serve encounters this everyday at some level.

I am not condemning the charter approach in general, just that when academic success comparisons are made between charters and non-charters, a level playing field for comparison still doesn’t exist.

But since it is the desire of our re-elected governor to make ALL schools in this state, and particularly in New Orleans, charters, and  he has successfully put all his people in place, soon the data will exist to see if this approach really does work better for there will be nowhere else for the excluded population to go.

It is important for the citizens of the New Orleans community to remember that the non-charter paradigm in this city failed because of a corrupt school board  which mirrored the standard operating model for most entities in this state and New Orleans in particular: the levee board, the judiciary system, the New Orleans Police Department, the security cameras, N.O. police detail work, the bail bonds system, the renovation of Armstrong Park, the Road Home Program, the house elevation program,  etc.

Sadly, the election of the so called Jindal reform candidates for BESE is just a continuance of this practice.