BESE: No voucher changes expected

Discussion puts focus on liability

Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER -- Andree Begneaud, a Lafayette business owner, right, speaks Thursday in favor of the voucher program and the benefits she believes it has brought to Lafayette Parish. The gathering stemmed from a debate over rules approved by Louisiana's top school board in July for private and parochial students that accept voucher students.

“This program is successful  and we are held accountable.” Jan Lancaster,  superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of New Orleans

Renewing arguments that have raged for months, voucher critics and backers clashed Thursday on whether state oversight of private and parochial schools that accept voucher students is adequate.

After an unusual 90-minute hearing, the president of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education said she does not expect any changes in the policy that BESE approved in July on a 9-2 vote.

“I did not hear anything that would compel the board to react differently,” said Penny Dastugue, who heads the 11-member panel.

The hearing was requested by the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, a teachers’ union that opposed vouchers when they were approved by the state Legislature earlier this year.

The gathering focused on rules that spell out the policy and which are posted for public comments before they are finalized.

Under a new state law, nearly 5,000 low-income students who attended public schools rated C, D and F now attend private schools.

The tuition and mandatory fees are financed with state and local dollars.

Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan said that, while the state’s expanded voucher policy is clearly a part of state law, rules that govern the private and parochial schools that accept the aid need to be more stringent.

Monaghan said the policy approved by BESE allows state Superintendent of Education John White to waive any provisions that govern the schools, which he called a mistake.

Giving White that authority means “there are no standards at all,” Monaghan said.

He said that rules approved by BESE also give state officials too much discretion to address problems in voucher schools, including the repeated use of the word “may” instead of “shall,” such as saying the superintendent “may” declare a school ineligible to take part in the program if it endangers the health or safety of children.

“The policy should not be neutered,” Monaghan said.

But a parade of officials and parents also took turns praising vouchers.

Valerie Evans, of New Orleans, the mother of six, said her seventh-grade son qualified for a voucher.

“I believe, as a parent, I am first and foremost responsible for the environment I put my children in,” Evans said.

Evans said vouchers represent “a crisis solution to a crisis problem.”

“We do need a solution,” Evans said. “We can’t wait.”

Jan Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said the voucher program has worked well in New Orleans since 2008.

Lancaster said voucher students take the LEAP and iLEAP tests, like students in public schools, and those results are posted.

“This program is successful and we are held accountable,” she said.

While at least five BESE members were in the audience, the panel did not hear testimony as an official body.

The rules approved on July 24 were touted by supporters as a way to make sure that private and parochial schools that accept voucher students are accountable to taxpayers.

Under the plan, schools that meet enrollment thresholds — about 25 percent initially — will get annual state scores that show how voucher students are faring on standardized tests.

Schools that fail to meet state cutoff scores will be banned from accepting new voucher students during the next school year.

State Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, said BESE-approved voucher rules are inadequate even though state lawmakers were assured that private schools would be held accountable.

“That is what we were promised,” Jackson said. “That is what should happen.”

Zack Kopplin, a college student and a graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet High School, said some schools that accepted voucher students are failing to meet state standards.

Kopplin said one school tells students that they “must defend creationism,” the view that life began 6,000 years ago in a process described in the Bible’s Book of Genesis.

Lauren Perry, government affairs associate for the Louisiana Federation for Children, said Louisiana has ranked 50th in kindergarten through 12th grade education for decades.

“This scholarship program is providing hope for families,” Perry said.

Comments

1) Comment by deutsch29 - 26/10/2012

Badcomedy, the "meeting" was a publicity stunt, nothing more. White had a bad week, and Dastugue planned this little party in order to demonstrate his "power." The only problem is that increasingly more people (press, politicians, judges...) are paying attention to "the man behind the curtain" despite the smoke, lighting, and sound effects in Oz.

2) Comment by badcomedy - 26/10/2012

Wait.Queen of BESE/servant of Jindal called a special bogus non-meeting just to conclude that nothing is going changed?? Seems pretty pointless. . . and wasteful.

3) Comment by Traveler - 26/10/2012

Being_Stupid: others have tried to guess my role in public education, and you are not the first to suggest that I am a member of a school board somewhere. I'm not, although I have both insight into and experience with how school boards work. Nor am I a member of LFT or LAE, although, once again, I have considerable knowledge of how they work, too. An unusual confluence of circumstances in my life has resulted in my broad base of understanding of the interaction of various education groups. What I AM is a passionate advocate for the best people in the world: teachers. Louisiana teachers have been cast in the part of villains by self-serving politicians and business venture vultures. Far too many people in the general public have been persuaded to accept that picture of our teachers, because it's easier to blame teachers for the problems in our schools than it is to address the real problems. And that blame game actually can work in the short-term. But when----after privatization of public education has run its course and the problems not only remain but have gotten worse----perhaps the legislators and the general public will be willing to look at the issues of our very complicated society that are impacting too many of our children (poverty, family violence, lack of parental accountability, and so on). As for micromanagement, you obviously were not in attendance at the BESE meeting described in this article. If you HAD been there, you'd have seen a disgraceful display of the marginalization of any speaker who dared to disagree with the BESE party line. The speakers on behalf of vouchers were so well rehearsed that they could have taken that show on the road----even without their dog and pony.

4) Comment by coachblades - 26/10/2012

Being_Stupid i have to ask...If you truly believe private schools are just better than why is it that louisiana has more children attending private schools than any other state in the nation yet we have some of the lowest college graduation rates in the nation?????? Wouldnt it stand to reason that we would have some of the highest college grad rates? Or is it that only public school kids attend college in louisiana and all our private school kids are off to Yale and Harvard. No...the truth is in LA we have a few really great private schools and WHOLE BUNCH that just exist because of desegregation and MANY backwoods church schools. But if you need a scapegoat just keep pointing the finger at the eeeevil teachers union

5) Comment by Being_Stupid - 26/10/2012

@Traveler, you must serve on the School Board of Micromanagers. Those folks that showed up to express their satisfaction with the new voucher system was no dog and pony. Those individuals that showed up are proof that the voucher system and Government partnership with Private Schools is working. Voucher System = Real Public Education Reform. All this will make your job easier on the School Board. No longer will the School Board micromanage government schools and have to deal with Union Boss Steve Monopolyman and the Teacher's Union. Now you will only have to ensure that the students attending these Private Schools meet the grade via standarized testing. The Role of Government should be to provide the funds and testing only;and perhaps bus transportation too but not to operate the schools themselves. Private schools can provide better quality education and at less cost than the Government.

6) Comment by Traveler - 26/10/2012

To Being_Stupid: you are crediting the teachers' unions with far more power than they have. Even though you are attacking them, they may actually appreciate your confidence in them! Coachblades, on the other hand, you are absolutely correct----the unions have NO power. Now, here's why: in Louisiana, there are two teachers' unions: the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the Louisiana Association of Educators. The leadership of the two unions are concerned that, if the two groups merge, someone is going to lose his/her job----after all, there can eventually be only one president, one executive officer, and so on. That's the loss of not only a handsome salary but also travel/social perks as well. The elected boards of the two unions recognize that, in an election, in every district, somebody is going to win and somebody is going to lose, meaning some board members will lose the seats that they regard as prestigious (and their own respective perks, too). Bottom line: all these union leaders would rather "protect their turf" than join forces to fight the anti-public education forces in our state. We complain that the current administration and our legislators are being self-serving, but so are the union leaders. Both of these unions are affiliated with national groups that have successfully carried out mergers in several other states, for the betterment of their members (for example, California, Florida, and Minnesota). Every teacher union member in Louisiana should be DEMANDING that their union leaders drop the red-herring issue of "philosophical differences" that supposedly divide the two groups. They need to stop sniping at one another and stop spending their limited resources competing for members. All teachers' union members should say to their leaders, "Either you get real, or we're getting out!"

7) Comment by deutsch29 - 26/10/2012

Excellent point, Lawyerdan, about the kindergarteners. John White refuses to release the names of voucher students to the districts being charged for such students. This will not bode well on Tuesday when he faces a federal judge for interfering with Tangipahoa's mandate to intergrate. Without the names, Tangi cannot know which students "left," nor can they reconcile financial accounts. Also, White charged top dollar in St Tammany for voucher students; if he did the same in Tangi, it will come out Tuesday in federal court.

8) Comment by deutsch29 - 26/10/2012

Being-Stupid, why not change your name to Being_Thorough and investigate the issues before you write?

9) Comment by Girls Can Tell - 26/10/2012

Being_Stupid, very appropriate name.

10) Comment by coachblades - 26/10/2012

Oh yes Being_stupid the huge powerful teachers union that in the last 7 years hasnt got any major candidates elected. They havnt got any raises for teachers statewide in 7 years. Havnt influenced any major educational policies and couldnt even slow down any of this legislation...Give me a break quit making the teachers unions out to be this huge juggernaut that is rich with money and powerful. In the last BESE election Micheal Bloomberg alone donated more money to "his" pro voucher BESE candidates than the entire teachers union could give to the candidates it supported.

11) Comment by LawyerDan65 - 26/10/2012

Under a new state law, nearly 5,000 low-income students who attended public schools rated C, D and F now attend private schools. Actually a large percentage fo the vouchers went to Kindergedeners who have never attended, nor were assigned to attend a C, D or F school.

12) Comment by Being_Stupid - 26/10/2012

This is the beginning of the end of the Teacher's Union and Union Boss Steve Monoghan's control of our tax dollars for Public Education. The Teacher's Union & Steve Monopolyman will do anything to derail the new Voucher System and regain their Government Monopoly on Public Education. The public is already starting to take notice of how effective a voucher system and school competition for our tax dollars is working. Government Partnership with Private Schools will be the end of their control. It is about preparing kids for their future, not about Steve Monoghan.

13) Comment by spqr - 26/10/2012

The only change at BESE should be the removal of anyone who has not taught in a public school for at least 10 years...and it must be recent. I have no respect for these people.

14) Comment by Traveler - 26/10/2012

Exactly WHO organized the "parade of officials and parents" that took turns praising vouchers? You can be sure that the parade was not a spontaneous expression of support, but instead was a carefully planned dog-and-pony show. Steve Monaghan of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers is absolutely correct when he says that the language of the voucher system is so loose that it gives one man, John White, carte blanche to award vouchers as he chooses.