Tony Lee
Breitbart.com
Big Government
2 Dec 2012
A Louisiana judge on Friday ruled that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s landmark school voucher program violated the state’s constitution that governs how taxpayer monies can be used to fund education, ruling that state funds were “never meant to be diverted to private educational providers.”
Nearly 5,000 students from low-income areas and failing schools are enrolled in private schools under Jindal’s voucher program.
Jindal said he, along with the state’s Superintendent of Education, will appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
“On behalf of the citizens that cast their votes for reform, the parents who want more choices, and the kids who deserve a chance, we will appeal today’s decision, and I’m confident we will prevail,” Jindal said. “This ruling changes nothing for the students currently in the program. All along, we expected this to be decided by the Louisiana Supreme Court.”
Jindal said the the opinion “sadly ignores the rights of families who do not have the means necessary to escape failing schools.”…
The article continues at Big Government.
Also at the site, Five States Adding 300 Hours to School Year
When the nation’s teachers and the curricula they teach are not doing the job, parents are uninvolved, and students are not learning the way they should, what should be done about it?
If you’re Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, or Tennessee, you simply add more days in school for the students rather than fix the underlying problem. In those five states, at least 300 additional hours will be add to the school years of almost 20,000 students in 40 different schools. There are long-term plans to expand the plan to include more schools, especially in poorer districts.
And how is this going to be funded? A mix of federal, state and district funds, plus additional funds from the Ford Foundation and the National Center on Time & Learning.
This is the culmination of a dream for Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who suggested in 2009 that schools should be open six or seven days per week and should run 11 or 12 months a year…
