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Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

House ready to rubber-stamp Jindal’s education reform package, but read about campaign contributions anyway

Posted in ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, BESE, Campaign Contributions, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist on March 22, 2012| 14 Comments »

The Louisiana Legislature, beginning with the House today, is about to take one of the most hurried, most ill-conceived actions in its long and notorious history when it passes House Bills 974 (teacher tenure/due process) and 976 (school vouchers, charter schools).

The votes are in, both bills will pass with comfortable majorities—some say perhaps by as much as two-thirds.

There also will be a surprise for House members who don’t read the bill closely enough: there have been a few last minute surprise amendments that will pull the rug out from under the bills’ opponents if they’re caught off guard.

If you still think there’s a snowball’s chance of the bills being defeated, consider this: at least eight political action committees that have poured more than $800,000 into the campaign funds of at least 103 of the 144 members of the Legislature—including 32 of the 39 Senate members.

Each one of these PACs has a vested interest in the passage of Gov. Jindal’s education package. Besides the Louisiana Federation For Children (an affiliate of the American Federation of Children) and its predecessor, the scandal-tainted All Children Matter, there are four separate PACs run by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI). You do remember, don’t you, that Jindal unveiled his education reform package at the LABI’s annual convention? Finally, there is FuturePAC and LAMP, the latter being the lobbying arm of the Louisiana Manufacturers’ Association.

FuturePAC, LAMP and the four LABI PACS, EASTPAC, WESTPAC, SOUTHPAC AND NORTHPAC are all affiliated with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has been tutoring and coaching legislators, including a double handful of Louisiana lawmakers, for a number of years now on how to pass legislation on privatization, state retirement reform, Medicaid reform and yes, education reform.

The votes are in. They have been for some time and it was evident at last week’s Senate and House Education committee meetings. With the exception of a few like Reps. Patricia Smith (D-Baton Rouge) and John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) and Sen. Eric LaFleur (D-Ville Platte), members were simply going through the motions of rubber-stamping Jindal’s rashly conceived idea of education reform.

There are those who defend Jindal’s reform package because, they say, the system is broken and needs fixing. We are willing to concede that point, but the way this plan is drawn up is, to use a very old adage, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There are so many wrong-headed ideas being bandied about by the administration that it is impossible to pick a place to start.

But back to the here and now.

In House District 72, represented by Edwards and which encompasses all or parts of Tangipahoa, St. Helena and East Feliciana, the Louisiana Federation for Children has sent a slick mailer out to every household.

The mailer bears the headline, “John Bel Edwards is holding back our kids,” and it goes on to say the legislature “is proposing a scholarship (read: vouchers) program for children in grades k-12. This bill provides students in low-performing schools with scholarships to attend the school of their parents’ choice, including private and parochial schools.”

The flyer fails to address the results at a dozen Baton Rouge schools taken over as charter schools and promptly saw their test scores and grades plummet ever further than when they were run as public schools.

Not that details of that nature have ever stood in the way of this administration’s pressing forward with its agenda.

It wanted the Office of Risk Management privatized and it was. Today, it is being run by the third private company in just over a year and has yet to post its annual report on line—an annual report that normally comes out in September. Could it be that the privatization has not realized the savings it trumpeted to the legislature and the administration does not want anyone to know that?

But let’s get back to that Louisiana Federation for the Children. On the front of the flyer, in small print is the statement that “LFC is a special project of the American Federation for Children” and above that: “Paid for by American Federation of Children.”

But who is the American Federation of Children? To borrow a phrase from Gov. Jindal: short answer, it’s a re-creation of All Children Matter after All Children was fined $5.2 million for funneling campaign money into Ohio in 2006 through the organization’s various state networks. All Children Matter was also fined for political hanky panky in Wisconsin. A federal “527” organization, it changed its name to the American Federation for Children after its legal problems.

Who is American Federal for Children and who was All Children Matter?

Both organizations were and are run by Dick and Betsy DeVos. They started the organization in 2003 to recruit, train, and fund candidates who would promote vouchers across the country. Dick DeVos owns Amway.

Betsy DeVos is the former chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party. Her little brother, Erik D. Prince, is the founder of Blackwater USA, the private security firm that made international headlines in 2007 when its guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians and then tried to bribe Iraqi officials to quell criticism of their actions.

In 1997 she wrote an op-ed for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call: “I know a little something about soft money as my family is the largest single contributor of soft monty to the national Republican Party. I have decided, however, to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect some things in return.”

These are the people who want to tell the citizens of Louisiana how to run education and our governor is eating out of their hands. He, in turn, is spoon-feeding pablum to legislators.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Let’s now take a look at some of the big money winners among the House and Senate members who will be deciding the fate of teachers and public education in a completely “impartial, pragmatic, and unbiased manner” in the days to come:

• Sen. Conrad Appel (R-Metairie and the author of SB 597 and SB 603 which are virtually identical to HB 974 and HB 976)—$22,000 in combined contributions;

• Sen. Gerald Long (R-Natchitoches)—$$25,000;

• Sen. Daniel Martiny (R-Metairie)—$10,500;

• Sen. A.G. Crowe (R-Pearl River)—$9150;

• Sen. Jonathan Perry (R-Kaplan)—$$14,500;

• Sen. Bodi White (R-Central)—$4500;

• Sen. Ronnie Johns (R-Lake Charles)—$6500;

• Rep. John Berthelot (R-Gonzales)—$8000;

• Rep. Christopher Broadwater (R-Hammond)-$37,500;

• Rep. Timothy Burns (R-Mandeville)—$7500;

• Rep. Stephen Carter (R-Baton Rouge, Chairman of the House Education Committee and author of HB 974 and HB976)—$22,175;

• Rep. Simone Champagne (R-Erath)—$21,500;

• Rep. Patrick Connick (R-Marrero)—$7500;

• Rep. Gregory Cromer (R-Slidell)—$10,250;

• Rep. Raymond Garofalo (R-Chalmette)—$15,000;

• Rep. Brett Geymann (R-Lake Charles)—$6000;

• Rep. Hunter Greene (R-Baton Rouge)—$12,000;

• Rep. Kenneth Havard (R-Jackson)—$32,500;

• Rep. Lowell Hazel (R-Pineville)—10,000;

• Rep. Frank Hoffman (R-West Monroe)—$8400;

• Rep. Paul Hollis (R-Covington)—10,000;

• Rep. Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles, House Speaker)—$13,000;

• Rep. Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette)—$4500;

• Rep. Christopher Leopold (R-Belle Chasse)—$7500;

• Rep. Gregory Miller (R-Norco)—$15,000;

• Rep. James Morris (R-Oil City)—$13,250;

• Rep. Erich Ponti (R-Baton Rouge)—$6000;

• Rep. Stephen Pugh (R-Ponchatoula)—$6000;

• Rep. Clifton Richardson (R-Baton Rouge)—$17,000);

• Rep. Joel Robideaux (R-Lafayette)—$$11,100;

• Rep. Clay Schexnayder (R-Sorrento)—$25,000;

• Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport)—$7000;

It must be more than a little frustrating to know PAC money roars like a lion in the House and Senate chambers while a $25 donation from a constituent who opposes the bills goes unheard and unappreciated.

There were many more who took lesser amounts from the PACs. But you can bet the donors and Jindal will be watching to see how each of the recipients of their money votes. And if past is prologue those who dare go against the governor will incur his wrath. Cherished committee seats will be lost and construction projects back home run the risk of the governor’s veto.

That’s the sordid, seamy side of politics and until something is done to rein in PACs, it’s never going to get better.

If this is accountability and transparency and the standard of good ethics, then Uncle Earl was correct when he said, “One of these days we gonna get good guvment and the people ain’t gonna like it.”

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Notable Quotables (In their own words)

Posted in Civil Service, Education, Governor's Office, Notable Quotables, Retirement, Transparency on March 21, 2012| 13 Comments »

Click on the image to enlarge.

IN CASE YOU’RE STILL UNABLE TO READ THIS 2007 JINDAL CAMPAIGN FLYER, IT SAYS IN PART (AND THESE ARE DIRECT QUOTES LIFTED FROM THE FLYER):

I know firsthand how important it is that we protect state employees and state retirees.

As my campaign for governor continues to intensify, I expect that some people will begin to spread false rumors about the future of state employees under my administration.

I wanted you to hear it from me that I will be a friend and supporter of both state employees and retirees.

I want to see state workers and retirees supported for the work they do.

I do not believe we should punish people for working, and certainly do not believe teachers and state workers in Louisiana should be singled out for penalty.

These men and women (state employees) work incredibly hard to ensure a bright future for our state and our children.

I strongly believe that we must support these workers in their efforts.

As a former state employee, I know firsthand how important it is that we protect state employees and state retirees.

Any statements to the contrary are simply false.

There’s more to this jibberish, but you get the picture.

Gov. Jindal, the truth is simply not in you.

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Following campaign money through the House and Senate Education Committees: or why teachers never had a chance

Posted in ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, BESE, Campaign Contributions, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators on March 19, 2012| 15 Comments »

Perhaps it is time for a quick lesson on how things are really done in government. For starters, you can throw out that civics book and forget those lessons about checks and balances and separation of powers. That’s pure theory with the current administration in Baton Rouge and about as close to reality as those flying pigs you hear about.

Consider for a moment the theory of separation of powers. In what other state else does the governor get to pick the Senate President and Speaker of the House? It’s absurd that the Legislature would sit still for one minute for that kind of power grab.

But wait, let’s back up. We’re talking reality here, so never mind.

LouisianaVoice is going to be offering a new feature during this legislative session, one that we feel our readers will find interesting and enlightening.

We’ve written quite a bit of late about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its undue influence on legislators in every state, including Louisiana. ALEC has spent untold millions of dollars in efforts to influence public pension reform, public education reform (some say destruction and they may not be too far off), privatization of state agencies and a laundry list of other so-called reforms.

Louisiana has not been immune from that influence as we shall see in the coming days and weeks.

Nor have our legislators been immune from the influence of our governor. And if you think it is his charisma and his instant recall of facts and figures that help him to pull votes in the legislature, think again.

Oh, there’s no doubt that he is intelligent and it’s a certainty that he can spew statistics and factoids in much the same manner that Mauna Loa spews hot molten lava.

But if you really want to know how he was able, for example, to push his education bills through the House and Senate Education Committees with only token opposition, there’s an old trick to learning his method:

Follow the money.

And that’s what LouisianaVoice is going to be doing as the current legislative session slogs through the current 85-day session.

If those attending the two committee meetings last week got the uneasy feeling that the committee majorities were simply going through the motions, patronizing the witnesses as they spoke out against the bills, the reason was simple: the members’ minds were already made up and were not subject to listening to meaningful debate.

The only ones who did listen were the minority opposition, led in the House committee by Reps. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) and Patricia Smith (D-Baton Rouge).

It is truly sad when our elected representatives become so condescending of their constituents because, quite simply, money talks and B.S. walks.

And make no mistake: money—$124,700, in fact—ruled the day with the two committees.

Why else would Rep. Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette) offer a motion to require witnesses to state if they were on professional time or on annual or sick leave before being allowed to testify before the House Education Committee? That has never—repeat, never—been done before. Even when committee Chairman Stephen Carter (R-Baton Rouge) ruled that he could not prohibit witnesses from testifying if they refused to say whether or not they were on annual or sick leave, Landry still pushed for a committee vote which, astonishingly enough, passed by a 10-8 vote.

Just so you know, those voting in favor of the amendment were Carter, Landry, Christopher Broadwater (R-Hammond), Henry Burns (R-Haughton), Thomas Carmody (R-Shreveport), Simone Champagne, (R-Erath), Cameron Henry (R-Metairie), Paul Hollis (R-Covington), John Schroder (R-Covington), and Jeff Thompson (R-Bossier City).

Voting against the amendment were Patrick Jefferson (D-Homer), Wesley Bishop (D-N.O.), Edwards, Edward Price (D-Gonzales), Jerome Richard (I-Thibodaux), Rob Shadoin (R-Ruston), Patricia Smith and Alfred Williams (D-Baton Rouge).

Each committee considered virtually identical bills. HB 976 by Carter, and SB 597 by Sen. Conrad Appel of Metairie both dealt with vouchers and the expansion of state aid for students to attend private schools.

HB 974 and SB 603 by the same two legislators, respectively, would make teacher tenure more difficult to obtain and to retain.

HB 974 was approved by a 13-5 vote and HB 976 sailed through with a 12-6 vote. Richard voted against HB 976 but in favor of HB 974.

Others voting favorably on both bills were Carter, Jefferson, Broadwater, Burns, Carmody, Champagne, Henry, Hollis, Landry, Schroder, Shadoin and Thompson.

Voting against both bills in the House Committee were Bishop, Edwards, Price, Richard, Smith, and Williams.

In the Senate Education Committee, SB 597 was approved by a 5-1 vote with Sen. Elbert Guillory (D-Opelousas) not voting. SB 603 was approved by a 6-1 vote with Sen. Eric LaFleur (D-Ville Platte) casting the lone no vote on each bill.

Others voting for the two Senate bills were Sens. Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge), Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville), Mike Walsworth (R-West Monroe) and Bodi White (R-Central).

LouisianaVoice has already written about the long list of corporations that are members of ALEC and their campaign money was in evidence in the votes in both committees.

But even more interesting, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s money, with only a couple of exceptions, was even more evident in the voting results.

In all, 13 members of the two committees received $124,700 in campaign contributions from ALEC corporate members or Jindal—or both.

Here’s the breakdown of campaign contributions to members of the Senate Education Committee with the amount followed by the source of the contribution(s):

• Conrad Appel—$2500 from Jindal;

• Dan Claitor—$2500 from Jindal;

• Jack Donahue—$2500 from Jindal;

• Mike Walsworth—$9,000 from ALEC member corporations, $2500 from Jindal;

• Elbert Guillory—$45,200 from ALEC member corporations, $7500 from Jindal.

Additionally, Walsworth attended ALEC’s national convention in New Orleans last August with ALEC picking up the tab for his cost of nearly $1500.

On the House side, eight Education Committee members received the following campaign contributions:

• Carter—$2500 from Jindal;

• Broadwater—$5000 from Jindal;

• Burns—$5000 from Jindal;

• Carmody—$1500 from ALEC member corporation;

• Champagne—$16,000 from ALEC member corporations, $2500 from Jindal;

• Henry—$2500 from Jindal;

• Landry—$2500 from Jindal;

• Schroder—$2000 from ALEC member corporation, $2500 from Jindal.

Besides accepting the contributions, two senators and five House members are members of ALEC. Those include Walsworth and White in the Senate and Carmody, Champagne, Henry, Schroder and Richard in the House.

Richard was the only one of the five House members vote against requiring teachers testifying before the committee to divulge if they were on annual or sick leave and he also was the only one of the five to vote no on HB 976 but he voted in favor of HB 974.

That can turn a lot of deaf ears to opposition and elicit key favorable votes.

None of those voting against either of the bills in either committee received campaign funds from ALEC corporate members or Jindal.

That’s the reality of civics.

Another reality is that we are going to be doing this on key votes on public pension reform, the privatization of the Office of Group Benefits, the sale of state prisons, Medicaid, and any and all other controversial issues being pushed by the Jindal administration.

Follow the money.

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Notable Quotables (In their own words)

Posted in Civil Service, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Notable Quotables, Transparency on March 14, 2012| 4 Comments »

“I couldn’t help noticing that no one seemed overly concerned about whether or not Gov. Jindal stated to this committee if he was on annual or sick leave.”

–State Rep. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite), following testimony before the House Education Committee by Gov. Jindal only moments after committee member Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette) got approval by a 10-8 vote of her motion invoke a new rule requiring witnesses (read: teachers) testifying before the committee to say if they were on annual or sick leave from their jobs.

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How do you Teague a Legislator? Ask Jindal; to Teague a teacher, just change the committee rules for witnesses

Posted in Charters, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Teague, Vouchers on March 14, 2012| 7 Comments »

It was more of the same in Baton Rouge Wednesday: a legislator got Teagued, an attempt by a Republican House member to Teague—or at least out teachers for potential Teague-ing—failed, and new light was shed on the Teague-ing of an administration official by Jindal last week.

State Rep. Harold Ritchie (D-Bogalusa) got his comeuppance on Wednesday one day after he voted against legislation pushed by Jindal. Ritchie, was stripped of his vice chairmanship of the House Committee on Insurance after voting no on a tax rebate for those who donate money for scholarships to private and parochial schools.

He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee that approved the legislation, HB 969, on Tuesday. Ritchie, during the committee meeting, asked about mechanics of the bill, including how many children might take advantage of it and how many private and parochial schools could accommodate transfer students.

He also posed questions about whether or not accountability standards would be required at the schools offer the scholarships created through the tax rebates.

HB 969 is one of the bills Jindal wants passed as a means of providing subsidized opportunities for children to attend private or parochial schools. Another bill would use taxpayer dollars for the same purpose.

True to form for Jindal, Ritchie was removed the next day by House Speaker Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles). Also true to form, Jindal never does the firing personally, leaving that task to subordinates. In this case, Kleckley is the only one who could have demoted Ritchie.

Rep. Ledricka Thierry (D-Opelousas) was named by Kleckley to replace Ritchie.

Also on Wednesday, State Rep. Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette), whose district includes Vermilion Parish, opened proceedings at the House Education Committee by introducing a new rule that has never existed in House committee hearings.

The committee was hearing testimony on HB 976 by committee Chairman Stephen Carter (R-Baton Rouge) that would impose sweeping changes, including providing student scholarships for Jindal’s Educational Excellence Program, allow for parent petitions for certain schools to be transferred to the Recovery School District (RSD) and charter school authorization criteria.

Before debate began on the bill, Landry said she had received calls from “concerned constituents” to the effect that some teachers from districts that did not close schools for the day had taken a sick day in order to attend a rally of teachers opposed to Jindal’s education reform.

She made a motion that in addition to the customary practice of witnesses providing their names, where they are from and whom they represent, they be required to state if they were appearing before the committee in a “professional capacity or if they were on annual or sick leave.”

Democrats on the committee were livid. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) said he had never in his tenure in the House seen such a rule imposed on witnesses.

“This house (the Capitol) belongs to the people,” said Rep. Pat Smith (D-Baton Rouge) “and now we’re going to put them in a compromising position? This is an atrocity!”

Committee member Wesley Bishop (D-New Orleans) said, “I have one question: if we approve this motion and if a witness declines to provide that information, will that witness be prohibited from testifying?”

Carter, momentarily taken aback, held a hastily whispered conference before turning back to the microphone to say, “We cannot refuse anyone the opportunity to testify.”

That appeared to make Landry’s motion a moot point but she persisted and the committee ended up approving her motion by a 10-8 vote that was reflective of the 11-6 Republican-Democrat (with one Independent) makeup of the committee.

Edwards lost no time in getting in a parting shot on the passage of the new rule.

Gov. Bobby Jindal was the first to testify and upon completion of his testimony, Edwards observed that no one on the committee appeared overly concerned of whether or not the governor was on annual or sick leave.

Jindal, who had entered the committee room late and knew nothing of the debate and subsequent vote on Landry’s motion, bristled at Edwards, saying, “I’m here as governor.”

The committee, which convened around 9 a.m. Wednesday, was still considering Carter’s bill at midnight.

New Information on Manuel firing

Martha Manuel, former executive director of the Office of Elderly Affairs and who was Teagued last week after criticizing the administration’s decision to transfer her agency from the governor’s office to the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH), shed new light on her testimony this week.

Following her dismissal, some said Jindal had no choice since Manual was appointed to the position by Jindal as an unclassified employee at $88,000 per year. One critic said that Tammy Woods, director of Community Programs, who fired Manual by telephone, was correct in justifying the firing because Manuel “was not in line with the governor’s thinking.”

But in a recent radio interview, Manuel said she only testified because she was asked to do so by State Rep. John Berthelot (R-Gonzales) because, Berthelot said, he had been getting a lot of calls to his office about the transfer of the agency.

At that point, her options were somewhat limited. She could have refused, in which case she could have been subpoenaed. Once she testified, she was compelled to testify truthfully or commit perjury.

For his part, Berthelot has nothing to say about the matter.

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