Louisiana is one of two states in prime position to capitalize on the U.S. Department of Education’s $4.3 billion ‘Race to the Top’ grant sweepstakes, according to a new report from a national nonprofit group. The New Teacher Project handicaps the race, listing Louisiana and Florida as the only “highly competitive” states.
Included in the federal stimulus package passed earlier this year, the Race to the Top funds will be awarded by Education Secretary Arne Duncan to states with the best plans to foster innovation, raise standards and turn around failing schools. In order to be eligible to apply, states must meet a list of criteria that shows they are in line with President Obama’s education reform agenda. The criteria include many policies already in place in Louisiana, including eliminating any barriers to the expansion of charter schools and allowing for student performance scores to be used in teacher evaluations. The New York Times reports today that several states are now debating policy changes in order to qualify for the grants.
In rendering his ruling, District Judge John Trahan all but called the real estate developer a liar for inconsistencies in his accounts of what prompted him to punch a school teacher unconscious.
Frank’s Casing Crew, now doing business as Frank’s International, will make its final appearance on ABiz’s list of the Top 50 Privately Held Companies in Acadiana this year, and once again it will likely be at the top with more than $1 billion in annual revenues. The 75-year-old company specializing in tubular fabrication and installation services to the oil and gas industry plans to offer shares of its stock to the public for the first time.
The defeat, or rather highjacking of House Bill 420 in the final days of this year's Legislative Session, say Reps. Vincent Pierre and Terry Landry, is the result of the propaganda spread by one unidentified local media outlet and an unnamed former state Representative, but nothing to do with the original legislation's lack of checks, balances or details.
City-Parish Council Chairman Brandon Shelvin heaped steady doses of condescending ire on a Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana executive while failing to reveal his financial ties to a BC/BS rival.
Abbeville native David Primeaux was a popular professor until his death late last year, and while he was successful at camouflaging a dark past, he couldn’t outlive it.
Tehmi Chassion’s failure to recuse himself in the school board’s selection of a group health benefits provider raises ‘serious questions’ on whether he violated state ethics law.
He’s a singer. A songwriter. A piano man. A family man. He’s even got his own Wikipedia entry. He’s David Egan. And he knows ancient secrets about the monolithic stones of Stonehenge that he’s not willing to share.
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