It's been decided: Superintendents of Louisiana's public school system will retain the controversial powers granted by Act 1 of the 2012 session.
Superintendent Pat Cooper
It's been decided: Superintendents of Louisiana's public school system will retain the controversial powers granted by Act 1 of the 2012 session.
In what should be seen as a landmark decision, the state Supreme Court issued a ruling Wednesday that will finally put to rest the protests over the sweeping legislation spearheaded into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal two years ago.
Act 1 drastically changed the rules for Louisiana's education system, instantly drawing protests and lawsuits from the state's two teacher's unions following its passage. It created a new teacher accountability system and an appeals process for terminated educators. Senior faculty could no longer lean on their years on the job for job security. Now, they could actually be fired for doing a bad job.
Other components of the law, particularly the powers it took from school boards and gave to superintendents has played a major role in the events consuming the Lafayette Parish School System for the last two years.
Our school board has spent the better part of the last year in an attempt to oust our superintendent, Pat Cooper, who's slated to be in district court this morning [Thursday] where Judge Durwood Conque is expected to decide his fate with the school system. Conque will be hearing a lawsuit from Cooper calling for the disqualification of three board members from voting on Cooper's upcoming termination hearing, which was originally scheduled for this week but was later postponed following an order from the judge.
With Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling now in the books, it'll be interesting to see how Judge Conque rules as many of the board's issues with Cooper center on Act 1 and the powers it took from school board members and gave to superintendents.
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