Dive Brief:
- Offended by Louisiana state Superintendent John White's response to a federal civil rights complaint they filed against the Louisiana Education Department in May, education activists Karran Harper Royal and Frank Buckley have issued an open letter calling for White's resignation.
- White labeled their initial federal complaint — which referenced New Orleans Recovery District's replacement of all schools in the city with charters — "a political farce" and a "joke" that was part of a push by national teachers unions' for more power and money.
- His response to the open letter was similar: "The group writing this letter is part of a national campaign that wants more to do with politics than with the success of children," he told the Times-Picayune after stating that the state education department is focused on increasing graduation rates, performance, and high-quality schools.
Dive Insight:
This is a battle White is fighting alongside one with state lawmakers over their attempts to repeal the Common Core State Standards.
In their federal complaint, Harper Royal and Buckley — of the Coalition for Community Schools and Conscious Concerned Citizens Controlling Community Changes, respectively — accused the state of racial discrimination in its closure and chartering of traditional schools, claiming these decisions placed black children in low-performing schools. White saw the complain as part of a "nationally coordinated campaign" by teachers unions, and it probably didn't help that Newark, N.J., and Chicago had similar complaints filed on the same day.
Given the events that have transpired thus far, this dispute may not be resolved until federal officials weigh in.
