The Jerry Baldwin Saga: 1998-2020

[Just1More]

http://thehayride.com/2012/05/the-ne...posed-to-work/

I agree with this article, parents should have the freedom to send their children where they feel is best, but those parents should also be aware of Mr. Baldwin's background.

I bet his version of his background and your version of his background won't match up.

[Cajunrunner]

I bet his version of his background and your version of his background won't match up.

Very likely. I seem to remember him sticking UL with an absurd lawsuit, costing us money to defend, after winning 6 games in 3 season. I just hope parents inform themselves before sending their children to a school that as of now, has no classrooms and no teachers.

I also hope he is successful in terms of being able to provide those students who attend with a better education than they would have had otherwise. As you've pointed out, the current system has failed too many kids and too many taxpayers.

[Zeebart21]

Very likely. I seem to remember him sticking UL with an absurd lawsuit, costing us money to defend, after winning 6 games in 3 season. I just hope parents inform themselves before sending their children to a school that as of now, has no classrooms and no teachers.

I also hope he is successful in terms of being able to provide those students who attend with a better education than they would have had otherwise. As you've pointed out, the current system has failed too many kids and too many taxpayers.

WOW!! in the response section...Anyone know who this clown John Lewis is?? He sure has a bug in his sss.

Z

[Hammer58]

WOW!! in the response section...Anyone know who this clown John Lewis is?? He sure has a bug in his sss.

Z

After struggling through his comments I would say he is a disciple of the Rev. Toothpick . I just hope, given his poor grammer and inability to communicate in anything approximating proper English, that he isn't also one of his faculty members.

[CajunSaint]

T, I agree that these private/charter schools that recieve vouchers must be monitored and evaluated for educational effectiveness. I don't actually believe year-ending test score results are the only measure. It is the sticky wicket that a private institution must endure, by taking public money. Being that the voucher students' parents are doing this voluntarily, I don't agree with scrutiny beyond the mass measurements (and a few failures don't constitute a system failure).

I kind of disagree that private schools don't have the level of accountability as does the public system. Private institutions have direct accountability to the parents/guardians of the children attending. You can't get better accountability than that. In the case of the public system, we have represented accountability mixed with a defeated parental component, with a huge amount of political influence in the process. It is the lack of accountability in the public system that has led to these voucher initiatives.

I like the voucher program for it's inherent competition and the challenge it places at the doorstep of the public school system. One thing I find a little disingenuous is to compare the current results in private institutions to public institutions and not agree that the public school system faces issues that the private institutions do not. I hope we all agree that it isn't placing the entire blame on the public school system... much of the failure indeed goes to our failing society as a whole. The key is that we are challenging a system that has built a fortress around itself and has made continous claims that it has the answers. It has itself in a stranglehold and it hasn't managed to clean up it's own house with it's own concepts and endless streams of money. It has done an excellent job of protecting it's servants and blaming parents. It didn't take a rocket scientist to sit in on some of the classroom activity and identify at least some root causes of the problem. And those are going to be addressed first.

Vouchers are really a can opener in my opinion. I don't think they are going to solve, educationally, more than a certain layer of the educational failures. They are going to exacerbate the existing problems in the public schools to begin with. The breaking point (that you would hope we reach quickly) is where we hope to have a complete reversal of educational fortune. We are going to have to first, and probably to the detriment of some students, break the will of the entitlement-minded guardians of the current public education system fortress. If they fight to hang onto their incorrectly identified turf, they are going to take a serious hammering. If I were them, I would not prepare the battle stations. I would clear my cluttered mind and start listening to how they can join this new venture and work within it to make education in Louisiana a success. There are many people that want educators to get a fair shake, including salaries and benefits... but it has to be tied to the successful education of our children.

i can honestly say that i agree with much of what you argue in the your last 2 paragraphs. i would point out that the system with the fortress around it, just speaking for this state, is comprised mostly of beauracratic types, both locally and statewide, who are mainly interested in justifiying their positions, some lofty, and their paychecks, too large for the public good. the teacher organizations fit this description for the most part. i believe that any teachers in position of decision-making within these groups get swallowed up by the pros or the lifers. i also believe that left to their own devices, most of our teachers in the public school system operate on a level of professionalism, and what is in the best interest of the children. your points are well- taken. oh, and we BOTH can believe what we want to believe.

[CajunT]

i can honestly say that i agree with much of what you argue in the your last 2 paragraphs. i would point out that the system with the fortress around it, just speaking for this state, is comprised mostly of beauracratic types, both locally and statewide, who are mainly interested in justifiying their positions, some lofty, and their paychecks, too large for the public good. the teacher organizations fit this description for the most part. i believe that any teachers in position of decision-making within these groups get swallowed up by the pros or the lifers. i also believe that left to their own devices, most of our teachers in the public school system operate on a level of professionalism, and what is in the best interest of the children. your points are well- taken. oh, and we BOTH can believe what we want to believe.

CajunSaints, I thought I would follow-up on your union comments. Here are some comments from head of Louisiana Federation of Teachers from a Reuters article today as they threaten lawsuit over the state's move to a voucher system. I don't consider the voucher system a final answer for all of public educations woes, but I have seen enough evidence of success from it in the inner cities in Wisconsin and Washington D.C. It's time to think outside the box and try something new. The fear of failure is no excuse not to take action now and move forward.

" In general, White said he will leave it to principals to be sure their curriculum covers all subjects kids need and leave it to parents to judge the quality of each private school on the list.

That infuriates the teachers union, which is weighing a lawsuit accusing the state of improperly diverting funds from public schools to private programs of questionable value.

"Because it's private, it's considered to be inherently better," said Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers. "From a consumer perspective, it's buyer beware."

Link
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8H10AG20120601

[CajunRed]

CajunSaints, I thought I would follow-up on your union comments. Here are some comments from head of Louisiana Federation of Teachers from a Reuters article today as they threaten lawsuit over the state's move to a voucher system. I don't consider the voucher system a final answer for all of public educations woes, but I have seen enough evidence of success from it in the inner cities in Wisconsin and Washington D.C. It's time to think outside the box and try something new. The fear of failure is no excuse not to take action now and move forward.

" In general, White said he will leave it to principals to be sure their curriculum covers all subjects kids need and leave it to parents to judge the quality of each private school on the list.

That infuriates the teachers union, which is weighing a lawsuit accusing the state of improperly diverting funds from public schools to private programs of questionable value.

"Because it's private, it's considered to be inherently better," said Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers. "From a consumer perspective, it's buyer beware."

Link
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8H10AG20120601

The last sentence in her quoted comments is hilarious. When it comes to our failed public school system for the last 30 or so years, its been "parents and taxpayers beware"!

[Hammer58]

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article...nclick_check=1

Looks like the legislators are skeptical of the Rev. Toothpick's intentions.

[Cajunrunner]

New Living Word in Ruston is out of the Louisiana Scholarship Program following a financial audit that Superintendent John White said revealed a level of fiscal incompetence and irresponsibility that cannot be tolerated.

White announced the decision Friday following the release of an audit that showed the school overcharged the state for scholarship students' tuition.

According to White, the school now owes the state $378,000 that the audit shows the school overcharged .

No other school in the Louisiana Scholarship Program was found to have violations similar to New Living Word.

http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/2...arship-Program

Who here is surprised?

[CajunRed]

Not me. Surprised its only $378,000.