As The Hayride reported Monday, State Rep. and Democrat candidate for governor John Bel Edwards prefiled a bill that would weaken charter schools. The bill would ban BESE from authorizing charter schools in districts that score either an “A” or “B” in district assessments.
To say this bill doesn’t sit well with the Pelican Institute is probably an understatement. The guys at Pelican are strong supporters of charter schools and school choice. Earlier today, Pelican’s Trent Hill wrote a piece praising Louisiana’s Course Choice program.
Pelican has come out against the Edwards bill, but they didn’t do it by publishing an article at Pelican Post or sending out a press release. They did it 21st century style by trolling Edwards on Twitter.
.@JohnBelforLA's bill to keep charter schools from operating in A/B rated districts is Anti-Choice nonsense. We will work to see it defeated
— Pelican Institute (@PelicanInst) March 19, 2015
Edwards tried a new spin on his bill, which we saw coming. He argued this would make this a democratic solution for local parishes.
@PelicanInst autonomy for local districts, elected bds that are A and B is democratic process. Not nonsense.
— John Bel Edwards (@JohnBelforLA) March 19, 2015
@PelicanInst if district is high performing it should allow vote of its taxpayers to continue its success.
— John Bel Edwards (@JohnBelforLA) March 19, 2015
The Pelican Institute then argued a unique concept, why not let parents and families decide instead of bureaucrats?
.@JohnBelforLA If Charter Schools arent needed in a District, they won't get students/make money. Let parents/students decide. #KillBelsBill
— Pelican Institute (@PelicanInst) March 19, 2015
.@JohnBelforLA Why give decision to bureaucrats over parents/students? Does government know better? Back-door Anti-Choice leg. #KillBelsBill
— Pelican Institute (@PelicanInst) March 19, 2015
Edwards then responded with this puzzling tweet.
@PelicanInst my bill removes bureaucrats and those not elected from having final say. Sounds like you support that.
— John Bel Edwards (@JohnBelforLA) March 19, 2015
Here’s a question. Does John Bel Edwards read the bills the teachers’ unions write for him? The bill would ban BESE from authorizing charter schools in certain school districts. Does anyone think the local school board is going to authorize schools to compete with it? Most sane Louisianians know the answer to that and so does John Bel Edwards, which is why the teachers’ unions wrote this bill for him.
The Pelican Institute pointed out something we did as well on Monday, which is district scores are misleading. My example was St. Tammany Parish, however their example was Ouachita Parish.
.@JohnBelforLA Ouachita Parish is B rated (high performing, you say), but has eight D-rated schools. Bureacrats should decide over parents?
— Pelican Institute (@PelicanInst) March 19, 2015
.@JohnBelforLA Tell parents of students who go to C/D rated schools in Ouachita that their schools are "high performing". #KillBelsBill
— Pelican Institute (@PelicanInst) March 19, 2015
.@JohnBelforLA Your bill uses calculation method to remove choice from low-performing areas. Not separate, very important. #KillBelsBill
— Pelican Institute (@PelicanInst) March 19, 2015
Exit question, why should the educational choices of parents be subjected to a majority vote? Parents should be allowed to choose which educational options fit them, not what they’re told they must have from bureaucrats.
John Bel Edwards was schooled today on the bill he filed on behalf of the teachers’ unions. I don’t think that this lesson will take hold though.
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