A Louisiana newspaper has blasted State Commissioner John White for refusing to release public documents about the selection of private schools to receive vouchers. People want to know the criteria and process for selection. White will not make these documents public, claiming they are not public documents.
Now, in a time of budget cuts, he has hired a public relations person who previously worked for Jeb Bush, to help him communicate. The cost? $12,000 a month!
If he just released the documents and told the truth, he wouldn’t need a PR team to spin his story.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Off topic, but did you see Ms. Katie’s response to your call for letters to the president? http://mskatiesramblings.blogspot.com/2012/10/letter-to-obama.html
I’m sitting at my desk trying not to cry. If letters like this don’t get through to Obama, he is truly evil and does not deserve our vote, the alternative be damned.
As you can see, by the comments there is no trust and there is no confidence in what comes from the LDOE. The Advocate is not a newspaper who normally criticizes the actions of any state government entity. Editorials like this are quite rare, but are greatly appreciated. Are more light bulbs being lit? If so, the lighting helps. Excuses, excuses are all the parents and educators get. Whoops! Wonder how the new $12,000 a month part time PR person will spin the excuses? Has Supt. White run out of words? Will the truth come out in court? Let’s hope so.
He needs a PR person because the truth is too horrible to release in unsweetened form.
Kudos to “The Advocate” for exposing this wasteful use of public funds and the deals made in secret. The public has a right to full disclosure.
This is a total money grab and a complete rip-off of taxpayer money. I can’t believe the people of Louisiana have allowed this. What corruption!! This is all about the money and the children and parents are the victims.
This is a hallmark of the Professional education reform crowd: give out lots of money to your consultant friends. white collar welfare.
I meant to add,i$100,000 was donated by Katherine Bradley to D.C. Public Education Fund, the non-profit set up by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to handle private contributions to school reform.
If you go to the website of DC Public Education Fund (http://dceducationfund.org/), you can read this:
“DC Public Education Fund’s mission is to dramatically improve student achievement in the District of Columbia by serving as a strategic partner to businesses, foundations, community leaders, and individual donors in supporting and investing in high impact programs with the District of Cloumbia Public Schools.”
Exactly how does spending $100,000 on PR to get the message out “dramatically improve student achievement in DC”.
Is Squier Knapp Dunn hiring DCPS high schoolers to do the work?
(http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/03/katherine_bradley_funding_dunn.html)