Education

Two LSU researchers have won a $250,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

The state Department of Education is again denying a request from the Associated Press for information on how schools were chosen to participate in Governor Jindal's voucher program.

The state is pledging $50 million to expand and renovate LSU's College of Engineering. The school has to match the state's contribution with $50 million in private funds. It has already raised $8 million.

Bernard Taylor came into East Baton Rouge Parish as the new superintendent of schools officially in June. He arrived amidst a wave of state education reforms, for which the parish is arguably ground zero.

Roughly a third of Baton Rouge public schools, threatened with state takeover, face new competition from private school vouchers and independent charter schools.

Accountability measures for teachers and administrators are adding to the pressure.

Speaking with WRKF's Amy Jeffries, Taylor does not mince words in his critique of state reforms or the potential of East Baton Rouge public schools.