BESE Approves Choice Course Program Offerings, Extends and Adopts New Charter Schools, & Defers Broad Changes to Bulletin 741 at December 2012 Meeting
Choice Course
BESE approved 45 choice programs including 20 online virtual offerings from private companies, local school districts, and Louisiana universities at its December board meeting. While there is a great deal of skepticism over how the courses will be paid for based on the recent state court ruling, State Superintendent of Education John White said that in addition to appealing the ruling his office would search for other sources of income to pay for the courses if the state supreme court does not rule in their favor. In addition, in a joint meeting with the Board of Regents, White said universities could now contact parents directly pushing their programs rather than working through schools systems. to view Information concerning the organizations and courses approved.
NEW Charter Schools
BESE approved several new charter schools including six schools that were not recommended by the National Charter Schools Authorizer’s review process. The board also approved the extension of a number of charter schools, among those, several schools with state scores of D and F. BESE chose to deny a number of charter schools based on the National Charter School Authorizer’s review process. In the future, other organizations will be allowed to authorize charter schools in Louisiana which could result in a severe weakening of the charter school authorizing process. for information on charter school extensions and approval process.
Textbook Adoption
BESE chose to delay adoption of new textbooks until common core information is more concrete and included in texts.
Bulletin 741
The board adopted changes to several bulletins, but the most questionable changes recommended by the LADOE included a number of revisions to Bulletin 741, which included elimination of required number of librarians and counselors based on school size, changes to various programs including physical education, elementary class size, reduction in force policies, and instructional time (both in terms of hours and days). While several of these recommendations are positive, many are questionable. to view these changes and let LAE know your thoughts by contacting Wayne Free at wayne.free@lae.org . |
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