Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans public school students attend charter schools, more than in any other city in America. That puts us on the cutting edge of a nationwide school reform effort. But what makes New Orleans even more striking is this: to date, we’ve led the nation in our willingness to transform low-performing […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion, Schools
National spotlight on creationist law promises ridicule for Louisiana
Defenders of the Louisiana Science Education Act often pose as friends of free inquiry. They argue that high school science teachers should be permitted to teach their students “all sides” of controversial topics such as evolution. The scientific community largely disagrees and says there is no productive debate to be had about basic evolutionary theory. […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Does mob cooperation with the feds happen only in the movies?
Mutual infiltrators Damon, left, and DiCaprio duke it out in Scorsese’s “The Departed.” credit: Warner Bros. Referring to my post on the online rants that cost Sal Perricone his job as a federal prosecutor, a reader asked: “Mr. Moseley of ‘The Lens’: I don’t mean any disrespect, but could you just speak ‘plain English’?” Lo […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Johns usually stay secret, but not Vitter – and now Edwards
John Edwards is making headlines, again, for allegedly being a … john. The New York City crime news site DNAinfo reports that a prostitute claims she serviced Edwards while working for Anna Gristina, the “Millionaire Madam,” during one of Edward’s campaign fundraising trips to the city in 2007. You may recall that, after his unsuccessful […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Does the Canal Street brothel offer peephole on River Birch strategy?
Justitia – maybe not so blind. (credit: Tony Caffrey) Federal prosecutor Sal Perricone submitted his resignation to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten on Tuesday. It’s a shame because Perricone is one of the smartest guys in the region. Or at least that’s how he portrayed himself in the comment boards on nola.com. There, Perricone posed as […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Primary politics: Does Jindal secretly want Obama to win?
Seamus, the now world-famous family pet Mitt Romney strapped to the roof of his car for a 12-hour drive to Canada. (credit: www.dogsagainstromney.com) mons 1. Basketball analyst Digger Phelps appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box show to talk about the men’s NCAA basketball tournament known as March Madness. At the end of the segment (video here) […]
Posted inOpinion, Schools
An evolving movement: New Orleans student takes on creationism
Over a year ago, I profiled Zack Kopplin’s now well-known effort to repeal the ill-named 2008 Louisiana Science Education Act. In short, the law permits the introduction of pseudo-scientific materials into classrooms that cast doubt on established theories such as evolution. Throughout his senior year in high school, Kopplin defended science education in Louisiana from […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Saints bounty mystery: Why such a puny return on such a big risk?
Andrew Breitbart: r.i.p. (credit: DonkeyHotey, Flickr Creative Commons) While I let some topical themes marinate, here are some quick thoughts and links to other posts I find interesting: 1) Tulane grad and conservative new media innovator Andrew Breitbart died suddenly last week. Lamar White at Cenlamar was the last person to tweet to him, and […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
A community organizer who knew better than Goldman Sachs’ boss
The bull has the upper hand these days. Photo by Thomas Richter, Creative Commons license. Three years ago President Obama offered us some unsolicited financial advice. He said that stocks looked like a good buy for investors with a long-term perspective. At the time, you’ll recall, the country was in the Great Recession. The pace […]
Posted inOpinion
Key to charter success: a principal rarely found in school's front office
A student at KIPP Believe sports the mantra that has made the hard-driving charter network one of the city’s most successful. Photo: Folwell Dunbar By Folwell Dunbar, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Over the years I have had an opportunity to conduct quality reviews of numerous charter schools here in Louisiana and throughout the […]