On Friday, both Republicans and Democrats had shown solidarity in approving a legislation to help advance the charter school program in the US. The bill, which received a 360-45 vote, has authorized a $300 million annual aid to establish new charter schools throughout the US.
Representative Steve Scalise said about the passing of the charter school bill, "If you look at what was happening in the city of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, it was the most failed and corrupt public school system in the country. After Hurricane Katrina -- I was in the legislature at the time -- many of my colleagues came together, and we passed a charter system that empowered communities to get involved in the education of their children. "What we saw was revolutionary."
Charter schools had gained notoriety in teacher unions, the Times-Picayune said. Officials of teacher unions pointed out that charter school are unfair in terms of being able to deny students who have educational challenges and only have fewer restrictions on expelling children who cause trouble. Some of the officials claim that not all charters are a success based on the achievement test results measure.
Louisiana Representative Bill Cassidy seemed to disagree about this opinion, and said, "Louisiana has embraced charter schools because they give parents the power to make the best education decisions for their children. Charter schools allow teachers to adapt their curriculum to meet their student's needs. But we need to ensure that taxpayer dollars are going to classrooms, not bureaucracy. Dollars for education should be spent in the classroom, not the back office."
The Times-Picayune reported that Cassidy has won adoption of an amendment that would give the Government Accountability Office authorization to oversee the charter school program to be able to keep the administrative costs in supporting charter schools in the country in check.
