Mike Deshotels is a veteran educator in Louisiana. He writes one of the best education blogs in the state.
Knowing what is happening on the ground, Mike is astounded that Michelle Rhee named Louisiana as a leader of education reform. he says it is all a great sham. He is puzzled that no one in the national press corps has investigated the facts about the state’s Recovery School District.
How could the press allow Governor Jindal to get away with his phony claims?
Writes Deshotels:
“There is only one problem with the Louisiana Recovery District model. It does not work! In fact when Louisiana tried to expand its own Recovery District beyond the New Orleans school system, the result can only be described as a clear failure.
“After 4 years, out of the twelve schools taken over by the state RSD and converted to charters outside of New Orleans, all of them are still rated “F”, and have declined in performance by an average of 10%. But not only have the schools declined academically, enrollment has dropped by an average of 39%. See the linked spreadsheet. So when Governor Jindal touts the success of parental choice, it must be recognized that many parents are “choosing” to pull their children out of the State sponsored choice charter schools!”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“It’s actually hard to believe that in a country that prides itself in having a news media that provides for fact checking of bogus claims by both government and private business that so much misinformation could continue to influence public policy.”
Yes, why news media? Why does this continue to happen and you are silent?
I agree with him, except the part about being surprised. The media is* state controlled by the corporations who are in bed with the State. What we should be surprised by is the fact that we still occassionally see dissenting views in the press (although, admittedly, they tend to be silenced rather quickly).
* Yes, I know technically I should say “the media are…”. But for all intents and purposes, the media are in such lockstep to the point they may as well be one entity.
Really sad. Our “watchdogs” have turned into lapdogs. When will it end? I wonder if Duncan will still say that this is the best thing to happen in education in Louisiana? I really wish Obama would replace him. He’s changing his cabinet members. Please, it’s time for the change.