Louisiana Parents Outraged Over Teacher Union Actions

BATON ROUGE, La., Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Louisiana parents expressed outrage today over actions taken by the Louisiana Association of Educators and the Iberville School District.  In response to a petition filed with the District Court by Louisiana by parents Jennette Franklin, Christin Kaiser and PublicScoolOptions.org to join a suit determining the fate of their children's school, the teachers union and the District argued that parents should not even be allowed to be heard as a party to the suit that will determine their childrens' future.

"As a parent, nothing matters more to me than my child.  I want my child to receive the best education possible, and they're currently realizing that opportunity in a school the teachers union and the District has gone to court to shut down," said Westwego parent, Christin Kaiser. 

She continued, "It is absolutely unbelievable to me that the teachers union and a school district would try to shut us out of the proceedings that will determine whether my child has a school to go to next year or not."

Kaiser went on to say, "The union and Iberville district wants to deny parents a voice in the fight for their children's schools…the same parents who's tax dollars fund these schools and the union members' salaries.  The fact that they're trying to shut the school down was a shock to me.  Now, the fact that they don't even want us to have a say in the matter makes it even worse.  I thought a school district's teacher's job was to make sure each child to gets a good education.  Why are their union and their districts trying to take my child's education away from them by shutting down our public school?"

Last month, parents Franklin and Kaiser, and PublicSchoolOptions.org asked the court to intervene as defendants in the case of the Louisiana Educators Association vs State of Louisiana.  In the suit, the union asks that public funding be discontinued to Type 2 charter schools in the state, which would cause the schools to close.  Type 2 charter schools currently serve over 13,000 students in the state.

SOURCE PublicSchoolOptions.org