Progress in the Parish: Why Jefferson Schools Should Reject Collective Bargaining

By Ben Kilpatrick

05/21/2013

Like New Orleans, Jefferson’s reforms are now bearing fruit. And like New Orleans, Jefferson benefits from leadership that places students above special interests. Here are five reasons why approving a new CBA would stymie momentum and risk recent gains.

TAGS: CBA, collective bargaining agreements, Course Choice, Education Reform, Jefferson Federation of Teachers, Jefferson Parish, JPPSS, School choice, teachers union

Value-Added Teacher Evaluation Divides BESE Candidates, Draws Union Opposition

By Kevin Mooney

11/03/2011

Test scores that measure the progress students make each year will now be used as part of a new evaluation system that determines how effective teachers are in the classroom. But not everyone with a stake in the public education system is pleased with the change.

TAGS: Advisory Committee on Educator Evaluations (ACEE), BESE, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, Louisiana Association of Educators, Louisiana Department of Education, Louisiana Federation of Teachers, teachers union, value-added teacher evaluation

Union Wages Drive Up Costs, Increase Tax Burden for Louisiana Residents

By Kevin Mooney

03/09/2011

Public sector unions are boosting taxpayer costs in Louisiana just as they are in other states. The demonstrations in Wisconsin, New Jersey and Ohio relate back to a fundamental change in the composition of organized labor. For the first time in American history, more union workers are employed by the government than the private sector.

TAGS: Louisiana Federation of Teachers, public sector unions, Right to Work, teachers union, unionfacts.com, Wisconsin

A Tax Plan for Our Brighter Future

A Tax Plan for Our Brighter Future paper-digital In Louisiana’s Comeback: A Tax Reform for Our Brighter Future, the Pelican Institute identifies the state’s significant tax problems and proposes a path to set the state in a brighter direction, including flattening the personal and corporate income taxes to 3.5% rates, reducing the number of tax preferences, eliminating...

View Report