School flexibility plan on the way to Gov. Bobby Jindal
by Bill Barrow - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

The House of Representatives signed off Thursday on the Senate's revisions to a plan that would let public school officials apply for waivers of state education regulations, a measure that would let some campuses behave more like charter schools. House Bill 1368 by Rep. Jane Smith, R-Bossier City, is one of Gov. Bobby Jindal's top K-12 education priorities for the session. The administration hails the measure as a fundamental shift in public education policy. But the version that Jindal will sign has considerably more limitations than what Smith introduced several months ago. Local superintendents can apply for waivers of certain rules and regulations, but only with the approval of the local school board and a majority of the teachers on each campus affected by the waiver. The bill would not allow schools to waive certain requirements, such as school nutrition rules, a new teacher evaluation system that Jindal recently signed into law and limits on privatizing support workers. Teachers unions worked throughout the session for many of the concessions.