BusinessReport.com

Posted on May 20 at 12:59 p.m.

I have personally experienced the success of choice regarding charter schools. My son, Matthew, now in his junior year at ULL, was struggling in the so-called "wonderful" gifted program EBR offered and we put him in the charter middle school, Community School for Apprenticeship Learning. He flourished there both academically and in being treated as a "winner" instead of a "loser". After CSAL he attended the now defunct EBRATS charter high school where he graduated as co-valedictorian. Matthew now has a 3.5 GPA at ULL with a major in Electrical Engineering and has a very bright future, thanks in large part to the efforts of all those who had the vision of allowing school choice. If we as a community can't put the welfare of our children first, behind politics and money, then we are headed down a path which I fear will lead to a city mired in poverty and discontent. The only way to attract the "best and brightest" to our community is to offer choices in education. I pray that we have leaders who are willing to do just that.

On The success of choice

Posted on February 13 at 12:47 p.m.

I agree that it's ridiculous that DOE is putting obstacles in the path of an authentic effort at reform. It's clearly a case of the "good ole boys" once again trying to block positive reforms in education. It's obvious that the present educational system is failing our children, and yet various efforts at reform keep meeting with closed doors and obvious efforts to keep the status quo in place. Since there is obviously an interest by various groups and money available to support this effort at reform, perhaps it's time that those in DOE opposing such changes be removed from office so that our state can move forward, finally, towards a better future for our children. It's not the "good old boys" who are the future of our state, it's our children.

On Principal certification hits snag with DOE

Posted on January 16 at 1:06 p.m.

I agree with Ms. Dowell that elitism does, indeed, have a price. I have three children, all of whom have attended EBR public schools, and they received excellent educations. My oldest son graduated cum laude from LSU in Computer Science, my middle son has over a 3.0 GPA at ULL in Computer Science/Electrical Engineering, and my youngest is in AP classes at Lee High School. They certainly have not suffered from "being a social experiment and mingling with the masses" that so many parents view with fear/bigotry. Until the "white flight" stops and parents are willing to support our public schools and realize that ALL of us, whether black, white, brown, yellow, etc. are equal and deserve equal opportunities for a decent education, then the blatant elitism/racism that exists within our community will continue. No one wants to talk about the "elephant in the living room", but that elephant will continue to hamper any efforts at bringing in new business and young people into our community. Those who feel public schools are a "social experiment" are the very ones keeping our community mired in poverty and discontent.

On This is Baton Rouge’s best high school