Louisiana Educator: Big Business Shenanigans

Louisiana Educator: Big Business Shenanigans:

Big Business Shenanigans

The big business lobby in Louisiana loves to mess with education. They have not seen a deform or privatization scheme for public education that they did not like. LABI (The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry) wields its power over the Legislature because it commands big money control of the legislative process. It's simple! Legislators are afraid to go against LABI because big business can mobilize big dollars to either help or defeat legislators in their next election. It does not matter what real educators and real parents want as far as LABI is concerned. They know what is best for us!

LABI needs to create the impression that there are parents and educators who support the goals of big business in remaking education by firing teachers and administrators based on student test scores and for promoting voucher and charter school privatization schemes. Various business interests have therefore created what Noel Hammatt calls "Astro turf" (you know .... fake grass roots) organizations of parents and educators to counteract the legitimate educators and parents who do not agree with LABI and their allies. Here are the major fake groups lobbying the legislature that are really controlled by big business: Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL), Stand for Children, Louisiana Federation for Children, Associated Professional Educators, and the Black Alliance for Educational Options.

This year a real grass roots organization of parents have had their eyes opened at the legislature when they formed a group to object to the poorly implemented Common Core standards and the effort to create a big data sharing system for private companies Louisiana Educator: Big Business Shenanigans: