A state push to land up to $200 million through a federal competition is triggering controversy on what it would mean for Louisiana’s public schools. Backers contend the contest, called “Race to the Top,” offers the potential for a financial windfall at a time when state education aid is frozen because of declining revenue.
Linda Johnson, of Plaquemine, a member of the state’s top school board, said the federal dollars “could be one of the greatest things that ever happened to Louisiana in terms of school improvement.”
But officials of at least one teacher union, as well as the Louisiana School Boards Association, say they are concerned that the money could be used to advance an agenda: the privatization of hundreds of troubled public schools.
