Emails involving state superintendent said to reveal voucher story scheme

Published Jul 2, 2012 at 3:00 pm (Updated Jul 2, 2012)

The (Monroe) News-Star is reporting that emails it obtained between Louisiana Education Superintendent John White, Gov. Bobby Jindal's spokesman Kyle Plotkin and Jindal's policy adviser Stafford Palmieri show White devising a scheme to "muddy up a narrative" and to "take some air out of the room" following a story the paper ran about the new voucher program in advance of White's Senate confirmation hearing in May. In the email exchange, White proposes creating a news story about the "due diligence" process for school voucher approvals to counter the impact of a News-Star article that revealed the state Department of Education had not performed site visits or extensive review of voucher applications. The day before the confirmation hearing, White corresponded with Plotkin and Palmieri through their personal email accounts. The emails were obtained by The News-Star after making their way into the state's email system. "I'd like to create a news story about 'the next phase' of determining seats in schools before [Sen. Ed] Murray creates an additional story for us tomorrow," White writes to Plotkin and Palmieri. "I'd also like to take some air out of the room on the floor tomorrow and to give [Rep.] Steve [Carter, House education committee chair] some cover." In the email, White goes on to discuss how he would create the news story by releasing a communication to schools regarding a timeline for student assignment. Read the full story here.