Collection:LPB

Genre: News, Public Affairs

Place Covered: Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2012-07-27

Duration: 00:18:30

Subjects: Education | Educational accountability | Educational vouchers | School choice | Louisiana. Department of Education | Louisiana. State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Contributors:

• Whinham, Charlie Host
• Sanford, Shauna Host
• Lincoln, Sue Producer
• Woods, Virnado Editor
• Monaghan, Steve Interviewee
• Middleton, Tom Interviewee
• Loar, Danny Interviewee
• Jindal, Bobby Speaker
• White, John Speaker
• Campbell, Kenneth Speaker
• Kopplin, Zack Speaker
• Bolt, Nick Panelist
• Lewis, Eric Panelist
• Landon, Les Panelist
• Songy, Donald Panelist

This segment from the July 27, 2012, episode of the series “Louisiana: The State We’re In” features Sue Lincoln’s report on the new school voucher program known as the Scholarships for Educational Excellence. Lincoln reports that the Department of Education is holding a lottery because more than 10,000 students applied for the 6,600 available slots at private and parochial schools around the state. She interviews: Steve Monaghan, the president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers; Dr. Tom Middleton, the headmaster at River Oaks School in Monroe; and Danny Loar, the president of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops. Next, Charlie Whinham and Shauna Sanford introduce highlights from a special meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), including testimony by Kenneth Campbell of the Black Alliance for Educational Options and college student Zack Kopplin. Whinham and Sanford report that the BESE Board approved Superintendent of Education John White’s accountability standards for the school voucher program. Lastly, Charlie Whinham leads a panel discussion on the school voucher program with the following panelists: Nick Bolt, the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Department of Education; Eric Lewis of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO); Les Landon of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT); and Donald Songy of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents. They discuss: school voucher availability; the next steps for voucher recipients; BAEO’s work in educating parents about the voucher process; LFT’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the voucher program; and the accountability and curriculum standards for the voucher program.