Act now to preserve local control of schools,

or yours could be next!

The House of Representatives will soon vote on a bill that radically restructures one school system without approval of the voters.

If you believe in local control of our schools, please ask your Representative to OPPOSE SB 636 by Sen. Bodi White (R-Central).

The bill is widely seen as a back-door effort to convert all schools in East Baton Rouge Parish to charters. If the Legislature can force this change on Baton Rouge schools, then any district in the state could be next.

Here are a few of the reasons to oppose SB 636:

• It unfairly targets one individual school system, East Baton Rouge. It will likely prompt costly litigation on the constitutionality of singling out one school system by the legislature.
• It drastically changes the governance model of local school systems. Principals would negotiate contracts for health care and benefits, student transportation, maintenance, food service, custodial work and other functions usually handled by the central office. It is a model associated with charter schools.
• Many principals in the EBR system testified against the bill, saying they do not have the training or resources to take on duties handled more efficiently by the central office.
• It limits the authority of the school system superintendent and locally elected school board.
• It creates major financial problems with the distribution of scarce state and local dollars dedicated to public education.
• It micromanages a locally elected school board, forcing the system to do many things it already has the authority to implement at the local level.

Please send a message and ask your Representative to vote NO on HB 636!

Click here to send a message!