Standing shoulder to shoulder for Reform

In case you missed it, Louisiana is preparing to submit its Race to the Top application for a shot at some of the $4 billion that the Department of Education will award to states. Superintendent Pastorek and 59 of the state's school districts are working together to win this award for Louisiana's school children.

But the Louisiana School Boards Association opposes Louisiana participation in Race to the Top, and the Louisiana Association of Educators hasn’t committed either.

We hope they will come on board soon.

A model for the nation

Schools in Louisiana are using test scores to evaluate teachers and institutions. The initiative, supported by President Obama, was launched in stages since 2003, has drawn support from three governors, including Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal.

That's the Washington Post story that you should be reading today. Written by Nick Anderson, the piece gets right to heart of the accountability issue. Louisiana ties student test scores to a chain of evaluations that reach all the way to colleges of education where many teachers get credentials.

Other states are following the model Louisiana has created. Leading the nation in one aspect of education innovation is terrific, but we can do more.

Lifting the charter cap was a real accomplishment. Approving the two innovative charter schools designed by AIE was also a great step forward. But the hesitation that persists among many in the state's education community when it comes to virtual schools and online learning is troublesome. That has to change.

Incentivizing investment in education reform

With billions of dollars going to fund R&D in clean technology -- and hundreds of millions of dollars coming from the US Department of Energy, why can't the US Department of Education follow their lead?

Innovation often comes from the private sector IN PARTNERSHIP with the public sector. One example that comes to mind is the Internet -- a publicly incubated idea that was transformed for social good, commerce, entertainment, etc. thanks to entrepreneurial investments.

Unfortunately, the education sector including many well-intentioned education reformers overlook the value of private capital in the education space. Just check out the National Journal's expert blog question this week. The responses are a sure sign that many in education (and education reform) are missing the point -- innovation flows from incentivized investments by private, public and philanthropic sources.

Education reform in Louisiana

Welcome to the AIE blog. Here, we will bring you the newest and best info on education reform in Louisiana as well as our thoughts on items that catch our attention during the course of the week. We have no schedule of postings and certainly no ground for commenting.

You probably have more than enough reading to do already, so we won’t tax your time (too much) with unnecessary stories you can find elsewhere. What we will bring to the dialogue is a fresh perspective on education reform news and the people who are making it.

The AIE team hopes you enjoy the posts, and we look forward to hearing your feedback.