We are obviously disappointed that this bill did not pass this year and that children in this district will continue to attend eight C and D rated schools.

It was shocking to see the opposition to this bill and the status quo celebrating the fact that children will continue to go to failing schools in this district.

This began as a grass roots effort of five to ten citizens and has grown to a group of hundreds. No one gave these bills any chance of even getting out of committee. Not only did we get the bills out of committee, we passed the bill that created the district and fell just four votes shy on passing the constitutional amendment.

Unfortunately, many Legislators were provided with erroneous information from the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board and the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce. We will continue to educate these Legislators with the facts in the months to come.

We are currently underway working on a substantially more robust plan for next year. Our fight to bring outstanding public education to this parish is far from over.

Lionel Rainey III, Spokesperson for Local Schools for Local Children