Education

A policy institute at Tulane University has released its annual look at the progress and problems of public education in New Orleans.

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

A small public school district is about to go private. The emergency manager for schools in Muskegon Heights, in western Michigan, is turning the entire system over to a charter school operator.

And as Lindsey Smith of Michigan Radio reports, that's already a model for the state's other financially-troubled districts.

A Baton Rouge judge has refused to prevent the start of a statewide voucher program that will use tax dollars to send children to private and parochial schools.

The decision Tuesday by Judge Tim Kelley means the program pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal will begin in August, while a lawsuit by teacher unions and local school boards over the constitutionality of the voucher program continues to wind its way through the court.

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board has appointed Assistant Superintendent Herbert Smith to the position of interim superintendent.

The Times-Picayune reports (http://bit.ly/LCUuQ3) Smith will serve as the temporary replacement for Superintendent Courtney Millet, who announced last week that she would be retiring from her post at the end of this week.

Smith, whose appointment was approved unanimously at Monday's special meeting, has been an educator in the district for more than 40 years and assistant superintendent for about 13.

Five people have been appointed to a state Department of Education team to help Louisiana school districts implement new education standards and a teacher evaluation system.

State Superintendent of Education John White said in a Monday news release that the team will work with districts as Louisiana joins most other states in adopting uniform standards known as "Common Core." They also will aid in adoption of a teacher evaluation system called "Compass," which focuses on student improvement as well as other evaluation methods including classroom observation.