More Challenges to Jindal’s Education Reform

You will, no doubt, recall all the protest that surrounded Governor Bobby Jindal's education reform earlier in the year.  Despite all the protest from teachers and parents alike, the sweeping changes were approved by lawmakers in the recent legislative session. Now, a new challenge to those changes has surfaced with not one, but two suits aimed at reversing those changes.

At issue are changes to the state's elementary and secondary school funding formula that will pay for a statewide voucher program, online schools, college tuition scholarships and an expansion of charter schools. Also targeted in the lawsuits are changes made to teacher tenure law, to make it harder for teachers to reach the job protection status.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers filed two lawsuits Thursday in Baton Rouge district court, calling passage of both measures unconstitutional. The lawsuits say the changes violate constitutional provisions governing the passage of legislation and governing the school financing formula.