A new subject: Details of a new school voucher program in Louisiana will soon be taking shape. Friday was the deadline for private schools to apply to the state if they want to be able to accept students who take part in the program, which will pay government-funded private school tuition for some Louisiana students. State education officials were compiling information on the applicants today. Meanwhile, families who want their children to take part in the program known as Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence can begin applying on Tuesday. The program is for students who are from low- to moderate-income families and who attend public schools that earned a “C,” “D” or “F” under the state’s school accountability program. Complete details on the program and student applications are available at the Louisiana Department of Education website here.
Benefits transfer: A bill prohibiting welfare recipients from spending their assistance dollars on alcohol or cigarettes and preventing them from withdrawing that money as cash has been put on hold. The Senate Finance Committee decided today to stall the measure by Rep. Cameron Henry, R-New Orleans, while senators work on next year’s $25 billion state operating budget. An estimated $454,000 cost tied to Henry’s bill, for tweaking the system that monitors the electronic benefits card, has some lawmakers debating the usefulness of a proposal that targets only a small percentage of transactions. The card is issued to welfare recipients and functions like a debit card. Henry argues there are records of the card being abused. He says even one person’s abuse of his or her welfare money is enough to warrant the legislation.
Naming names: “MONDEWHAAAAT?” The sarcasm was palpable in the one-word headline that appeared in The New York Post on the day after Kraft Foods revealed that it planned to name its new global snack business “Mondelez,” an interpretation of a mash-up of the Latin words for “world” and “delicious.” But that wasn’t the only dig. One blogger teased that she would have been “stifling giggles” if she’d been in meetings to determine the name. A Forbes contributor suggested a trick for remembering how to say it: “Just think Bush administration secretary of state. You know, Mon-de-leza Rice.” Crain’s Business Chicago tittered that it bears close resemblance to a vulgar Russian term for a sexual act. Michael Mitchell, a Kraft spokesman, says executives are taking all the joking in stride. On Wednesday, Kraft shareholders will decide whether to approve the name for the company’s business that sells global snack brands such as Oreos, Fig Newton and Cadbury. Find out how a four-month odyssey led to the selection of “Mondelez” in the full article by The Associated Press here.
