News

A state committee charged with monitoring the field testing of a new teacher evaluation program held its first meeting today, September 24, and appointed former Senator Randy Ewing or Ruston as chairperson. Vice Chair is Teacher of the Year Julia Williams, from Lafayette High School.

In an effort to overturn a decision against a recruiting company charged with victimizing Filipino teachers hired to work in Louisiana schools, attorney Murphy J. Foster went on the offensive Monday against the unions representing the foreign teachers.

Students in grades 6-12 are encouraged to enter the National History Day contest sponsored by the WWII Museum in New Orleans. Louisiana regional competitions will be held on March 12-26, 2011.

 First Lady Michelle Obama was in Slidell on September 8 to commend Louisiana schools for their effort in fighting childhood obesity. Visiting Brock Elementary School, one of 59 schools in the state to earn the Department of Agriculture's Gold Award of Distinction, Mrs. Obama announced an ambitious goal: to "solve the problem of childhood obesity so that kids born today reach adulthood at a healthy weight."

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers cheered Thursday’s announcement that Louisiana has applied for part of the new $10 billion federal Education Jobs Fund. The state is eligible to receive approximately $147 million through the federal allocation

Hundreds of Filipino guestworkers lured to teach in Louisiana public schools were cheated out of tens of thousands of dollars and forced into exploitative contracts by an international trafficking ring run by labor contractors, according to a class action lawsuit filed August 5 by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Covington & Burling LLP. 

As promised, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Act 749, Governor Bobby Jindal’s “Red Tape Reduction and Local Waiver Empowerment Program.” Joining LFT in the lawsuit, filed in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, are the East Baton Rouge Federation of Teachers and the Jefferson Federation of Teachers.