Baton Rouge, La—Today, following the House Education Committee vote on House Bill 166 that passed by a vote of 9 to 8, DFER-LA State Director, Eva Kemp-Melder, released the following statement:
“While we are disappointed that a measure focused on adult politics rather than student outcomes is moving forward, we will continue to make the case to legislators in the House and Senate that retaining the current return policy is the best course of action.
“The data show that schools in New Orleans are performing demonstrably better than they were prior to Hurricane Katrina. In fact, study after study have shown that charter schools in New Orleans are outperforming their traditional peers across the state. Surely we can all agree that when any public entity is doing a good job with a particular school that it should be allowed to continue and build on its successes.
“State legislators should be leading to ensure that school administrators, educators, parents and community-based organizations work together to support students. Today’s vote signals a return to a past era when politics trumped the best interests of children. We’ve come too far over the past decade to let that happen.”
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Contact: Eva Kemp-Melder, Eva@dfer.org