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Michigan latest to attempt implementation of ALEC-inspired school reform identical to Louisiana’s–even cloning the RSD

Posted in ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, BESE, Charters, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Privatization, Recovery School District, RSD, Vouchers on November 29, 2012| 3 Comments »

At the risk of sounding like one of those freaky conspiracists who wear tinfoil hats and insist we never really landed on the moon, recent events in the state of Michigan have a familiar—and ominous—ring.

The creation of the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) in that state is eerily akin to Louisiana’s Recovery School District (RSD) and certainly lends support to the theory that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is behind a national move to turn public schools into for-profit corporate entities with little or no public accountability.

We will return to the Michigan developments presently but first, some background.

The combination of vouchers, charters and computer courses are being promoted by the administration at the expense of public education funding—again, with no accountability built into the so-called “reforms.”

The RSD, which pre-dates the voucher and online courses, for a time was under the leadership void of Paul Vallas, then under equally inept State Superintendent John White and most recently under Patrick Dobard. No matter who heads it up, the RSD has proved a smashing failure and a gaping dark hole into which state revenues seem to vanish.

Vallas, during his tenure, took a state vehicle on personal business to Chicago on more than 30 occasions. On one of those trips, he appeared on a Chicago television station where he announced that he would run for mayor. He never became a candidate and the personal use of the state vehicle for the out-of-state trips was not discovered until he wrecked the vehicle in Chicago.

He also hired cronies from his previous tenures at education departments in Chicago and Philadelphia.

State audits of the RSD have turned up numerous irregularities and there were problems with a private transportation company receiving payment for busing students for the district. The RSD received still another black eye over reports of sexual activity between students at the school, prolonged teacher absences from classrooms (classes reported went unsupervised for weeks at a time) and chargers of attempted bribery. The LDOE official who reported the incidents and his supervisor were summarily fired.

And now comes a report by an outfit called Research on Reforms that reveals that each of the 12 RSD-New Orleans direct-run schools and 38 (79 percent) of the 48 RSD-New Orleans charter schools received 2012 school performance scores (SPS) of “D” or “F.”

The precise definition of a “failing school,” however, has remained in a state of flux since 2005, says the report, entitled Recovery School District in New Orleans: National Model for Reform or District in Academic Crisis.

“The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) has continuously revised its definition and labels of ‘failing’ schools to the extent that it is difficult to follow the real progress of any school historically,” it said. “It is imperative that the reader visit the historical state legislative actions that resulted in the creation of the RSD-NO and the disenfranchisement of the citizens in New Orleans in order to determine whether or not the RSD has failed in its commitment to public school students in New Orleans.”

And now Jindal’s education reform packages are tied up in state and federal courts.

In Tangipahoa Parish, a federal judge has already ruled against the state in a lawsuit that could be a precursor to legal problems for the entire Jindal education package passed earlier this year by the legislature.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle ruled that Acts 1 and 2 of the 2012 legislative session were in violation of a desegregation consent decree currently in effect in Tangipahoa and could have implications for other districts in the state under similar orders.

Lemelle said the acts would “impair or impede” the parish’s ability to comply with federal desegregation laws and that more than 40 other school districts across the state that are under similar agreements could also be affected.

Education Department officials indicated the ruling will be appealed.

On Wednesday of this week, trial kicked off in 19th District Court in Baton Rouge in a lawsuit brought against LDOE by the state’s two largest teacher unions and dozens of local school boards.

The plaintiffs are claiming that Act 2, which created the school voucher system and Senate Concurrent Resolution 99, which is the state’s Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) for funding public education, were unconstitutional.

The argue that the voucher system diverts local funds for purposes for which they were never approved by taxpayers and that the MFP resolution, approved on June 4, the last day of the session, failed to obtained the constitutionally-mandated two-thirds vote because the resolution resulted in a “fiscal impact,” which requires a two-thirds vote.

House Speaker Chuck “the Eunuch” Kleckley (R-Lake Charles) and state attorney Jimmy Faircloth maintain there was no fiscal impact, thus allowing for passage by a simple majority of members present and voting. For the full 105-member House, 53 votes are required for a simple majority. A two-thirds majority would require 70 of 105 votes.

The Legislative Fiscal Office, which is charged with reviewing legislative bills for fiscal impact, disagreed, saying there was a fiscal impact, which reinforced plaintiffs’ arguments.

The resolution passed 51-49, a simple majority of the 100 members present and voting. Sixty-seven votes would have been needed for a two-thirds vote.

There are a couple of interesting twists in the voucher lawsuit in state district court. Faircloth, who is representing the state, contributed $1,000 on Oct. 24 to Judge Kelley’s unsuccessful campaign for the State Supreme Court.

Kelley, meanwhile, is married to Angele Davis, who served as Jindal’s commissioner of administration for the first two and one-half years of his administration.

All of which brings us back to our conspiracy involving the state of Michigan specifically and any number of states in general that either have implemented or are attempting to implement similar programs.

Rob Glass, Superintendent of Bloomfield Hills Schools, it not waiting for the axe to fall; he has issued a call to action to fight pending legislation that would put into place programs strikingly similar to those currently the subject of litigation here in Louisiana.

The legislative proposals in Michigan have prompted critics to ask if that state’s EAA is establishing “a statewide school reform district on the fast track?” That same question is now being raised in Louisiana but unlike Michigan, it is being asked here in hindsight.

The observation Glass made to LouisianaVoice on Thursday is even more to the point: “There is no question in my mind that this is all part of the ALEC game plan. What we’re seeing in Michigan either has been played out or is being played out in other states and the proposals in all the states are identical,” he said.

The demographic profile of Bloomfield Hills is in stark contrast to that of New Orleans and most of Louisiana.

Bloomfield Hills is a city located in the heart of metro Detroit’s affluent northern suburbs in Oakland County. Located 20 miles northwest of downtown Detroit, the city, with a population of less than 4,000, has consistently ranked as one of the five wealthiest cities in the U.S. with comparable populations. Its median family income in excess of $200,000 per year is the highest of any city outside California, Florida or Virginia.

“If we do not take immediate action, I believe great damage will be done to public education, including our school system,” Glass said in his Nov. 28 call to action. “We have just three weeks to take action before it’s too late,” he said of four bills pending in the current legislative session in Michigan.

The bills are:

• House Bill 6004 and Senate Bill 1358 would expand the EAA, presently consisting of 15 Detroit schools, to a statewide system overseen by a chancellor appointed by the governor and which would function outside the authority of the State Board of Education of state school superintendent. “These schools are exempt from the same laws and quality measures of community-governed public schools,” Glass said. “The EAA can seize unused school buildings (built and financed by local taxpayers) and force sale or lease to charter, non-public or EAA schools.”

• House Bill 5923 would create several new forms of charter and online schools with no limit on the number, many of which would be created by EAA. “Public schools are not allowed to create these new schools unless they charter them,” Glass said. “Selective enrollment/dis-enrollment policies will likely lead to greater segregation in our public schools. This bill creates new schools without changing the overall funding available, further diluting resources for community-governed public schools.”

• Senate Bill 620 known as the “Parent Trigger” bill, this would allow the lowest-achieving 5 percent of schools to be converted to a charter school while allowing parents or teachers to petition for the desired reform model. “This bill…disenfranchises voters, ends their local control and unconstitutionally hands taxpayer-owned property over to for-profit companies,” he said. “Characterized as parent-empowerment, this bill does little to develop deep, community-wide parent engagement and organization.”

Glass said he has never considered himself a conspiracy theorist—until now. “This package of bills is the latest in a year-long barrage of ideologically-driven bills designed to weaken and defund locally-controlled public education, handing scarce taxpayer dollars over to for-profit entities operating under a different set of rules,” he said. “I believe this is fundamentally wrong.”

He said that he, State School Superintendent Mike Flanagan and State Board of Education President John Austin, along with the Detroit Free Press, have expressed various concerns about the bills.

“This is not a laissez faire plea to defend the status quo (a favorite accusation leveled at educators by Jindal). This is about making sure this tidal wave of untested legislation does not sweep away the valued programs our local community has proudly built into its cherished school system,” Glass said.

A familiar and ominous ring indeed…

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π-yush keeps communication lines open with talking points and voting instructions via text messages to legislators even during committee meetings and floor debates on key bills

Posted in Ethics, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Politicians, Transparency on November 28, 2012| 10 Comments »

When State Rep. Joe Harrison (R-Gray) was removed from his seat on the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month by Piyush Jindal through his surrogate, House Speaker Chuck “The Eunuch” Kleckley (R-Lake Charles), he offered an interesting revelation about the way the administration micromanages the legislative process.

“Everything they (legislative committees) do is scripted,” Harrison said in an interview with LouisianaVoice hours after his demotion. “I’ve seen the scripts. They hand out a list of questions we are allowed to ask and they tell us not to deviate from the list and not to ask questions that are not in the best interest of the administration.”

Harrison’s comments were made in the heat of the aftermath of his smack down by Piyush for having the temerity to vote against The-Man-Who-Would-Be-Vice-President (or at least a Romney cabinet member) on the proposed contract that called for Blue Cross/Blue Shield to become the third party administrator for the Office of Group Benefit’s (OGB) Preferred Provider Organization (PPO).

Strong words to be sure, but now they have been corroborated by yet another legislator who shall remain nameless for the time being though we will go so far as to acknowledge that the lawmaker is not a member of Jindal’s political party.

Not that that seems to matter, given the events that occurred in the wake of the surprising defeat of Republican president candidate Mitt Romney on Nov. 6.

Jindal turned on Romney like the self-serving hypocrite he is. (Well, after all, he never got his 30 pieces of silver—read: a cabinet appointment in the anticipated Romney administration—so why not?)

When we asked our legislator friend (we’ll just call him Kyle) if Harrison was accurate in claiming that committee members are given questions by administrative officials in advance of committee hearings, he responded with a quick, “Absolutely.”

But then he continued. “Not only that but they text committee members during committee meetings and even send text messages to legislators during floor debates on bills in the House and Senate telling them how to vote on certain bills.

“They’ll also send text messages to legislators instructing them to speak for or against a bill and even tell him or her on what to say and they’ll pop up out of their chair and immediately rush to the floor microphone,” Kyle said.

He said he occasionally speaks to school groups about how the legislative process is designed to work. “I always leave laughing at myself for trying to tell the kids that we have three branches of government—the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

“We no longer have a legislative branch of government in Louisiana; we’re (the legislature) just an extension of the executive branch.

“The sad part is we have only ourselves to blame. When I say we, I mean the legislature as a body, not as individuals because there are some members who will stand up to Jindal when they feel he is wrong. But the legislature—the House and the Senate—have capitulated to the fourth floor and I lay the fault at the feet of our leadership, the Speaker Kleckley and Senate President John Alario (R-Westwego).

“They are both likeable men, very personable, but Alario’s looking out for Alario. If you don’t believe that, take a look at the Capital Outlay Bill and see how many projects are in it for Jefferson Parish. It’s loaded down with Jefferson projects and Alario wants to keep it that way,” he said.

He said he also did not understand the motivations of Sen. Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville). “Here is a state senator who had a state mental hospital in his district (Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville) closed by the governor who gave him no advance warning of his intentions and yet, as chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, he did exactly what Jindal told him to do and steamrolled the Blue Cross/Blue Shield contract with OGB down everyone’s throat.”

Harrison and our friend Kyle weren’t the only ones to reveal the ongoing instructions to legislators. Yet another source (not a member of the legislature) said he witnessed a legislator receiving text messages from the governor’s office even as he testified not before a legislative committee, but before the New Orleans City Council. “They were letting him know they didn’t like what he was saying in his testimony,” the second unnamed source said.

LouisianaVoice sent separate emails to Piyush Press Pontificator Kyle (no relation) Plotkin and to Chief of Staff Paul Rainwater asking just two simple questions:

• Does the administration think it is appropriate to micromanage the legislative process in this manner?

• Would this (practice) not blur the lines between the executive and legislative branches of government?

We never receive an acknowledgement of either email.

Ah, transparency and accountability. Where would we be without ‘em?

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A report π-yush probably won’t post on the state’s web site: Louisiana is 10th worst-run state in the nation. Who knew?

Posted in Economy, Governor's Office, Higher Education, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Prison on November 27, 2012| 4 Comments »

Piyush Jindal loves to regurgitate reports that tell of Louisiana’s wonderful business climate (with all but non-existent corporate taxes, cheap labor and a glut of laid-off state employees looking for work, why would the climate not be pro-business?) but here’s a report we aren’t likely to hear him say much about or post on the state web page as is his custom when the reports are favorable.

Louisiana has the 10th worst-run state government in the nation, according to a study just released by 24/7 Wall Street, an independent research company.

While acknowledging that measuring the successful management of a state is difficult, 24/7, which each year conducts an extensive survey of all 50 states, considered data from a number of sources. These included Standard & Poor’s, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Tax Foundation, Realty Trac, the FBI, and the National Conference of State Legislators.

Once all the data were extrapolated, each state was ranked on the basis of its performance in all categories, the study’s methodology report said.

“A state with abundant natural resources should have an easier time balancing its budget than one starved for resources,” the study said. “Despite this, it is the responsibility of each state to deal with the resources at its disposal. Each government must anticipate economic shifts and diversify its industries and attract new business.”

Those are particularly damning observations insofar as Louisiana’s ongoing fiscal crisis is concerned. Massive budget cuts have gutted the operations of many state agencies. Higher education, for example, once received two-thirds of its budget from state appropriations and the rest from tuition. That is completely reversed today as tuition increases of some 40 percent over the past several years coupled with budgetary cuts now has tuition providing two-thirds of all revenue for higher ed.

Another general criticism of poorly-run states that well may have been addressed specifically to Louisiana and the Piyush administration said, “A state should be able to raise enough revenue to ensure the safety of its citizens and minimize hardship without spending more than it can prudently afford. Some states have historically done this much better than others,” it said.

Piyush has steadfastly refused to consider any efforts to raise additional revenue, including tax increases. Instead, he has consistently pushed for more liberal tax incentives for businesses, a policy that has cost the state up to $5 billion per year, according to official estimates.

The 24/7 report cites North Dakota as the best-run state in the nation, the first time it has received that distinction. As of August of this year, North Dakota was the second-largest oil producer in the nation because of the use of hydraulic fracturing in the state Bakken shale formation.

The oil and gas boom brought jobs to the state, whose 3.5 percent unemployment rate was the country’s lowest in 2011.

North Dakota and Montana (the 18th best-run) were the only states that have not reported budget shortfalls since fiscal 2009.

Louisiana, on the other hand, earned its 10th worst-managed state on the basis of having:

• The 26th largest budget deficit (14.3 percent);

• The seventh lowest median household income ($41,734);

• The third highest percentage of its citizens living below the poverty line (20.4 percent);

• The 10th smallest proportion of its budget dedicated to social welfare due in large part to a lack of tax revenue (and this was before the latest round of budget cuts, including Medicaid);

• One of the highest violent crime rates in the nation (New Orleans had the highest murder rate in 2011);

• The 20th highest debt per capita.

Louisiana’s ranking as the 10th worst-run state puts it just ahead of Mississippi, the 11th worst, the report indicates. Mississippi had the lowest median household income ($36,919) in the nation, the country’s highest percentage of people living below the poverty line (22.6 percent), and the country’s fourth highest unemployment rate (10.7 percent).

California, with the second highest unemployment rate (11.7 percent) ranked as the worst-run state in the nation despite having the 10th highest median household income ($52,287.

Following are the 10 best-run states and some of the factors that got them their high rankings, according to 24/7:

1. North Dakota (lowest unemployment rate);

2. Wyoming (sixth lowest percentage of families living below poverty line);

3. Nebraska (second lowest in both unemployment and per capita debt);

4. Utah (11th lowest unemployment rate, tied for 17th lowest percentage living below poverty line);

5. Iowa (7th lowest per capita debt, 6th lowest unemployment rate);

6. Alaska (second highest median household income, 4th lowest percentage living below poverty line);

7. South Dakota (3rd lowest unemployment rate);

8. Vermont (5th lowest unemployment rate, 7th lowest percentage living below poverty line);

9. Virginia (7th highest in median household income, 7th lowest percentage living in poverty);

10. Minnesota (13th lowest per capita debt, 11th highest median household income, 10th lowest percentage living in poverty);

….and here are the 10 worst-run states, along with some of the reasons for their less than desirable standings:

41. Louisiana (20th highest per capita debt, 7th lowest median household income) 3rd highest percentage living in poverty);

42. Florida (tied for 6th highest unemployment rate);

43. South Carolina (8th highest unemployment rate, 9th lowest median household income, 9th highest percentage living in poverty);

44. New Mexico (8th lowest median household income, 2nd highest percentage living in poverty);

45. Nevada (largest budget deficit in nation, highest unemployment rate in nation);

46. New Jersey (5th highest per capita debt, 4th highest budget deficit, 13th highest unemployment rate);

47. Arizona (3rd largest budget deficit, 13th highest unemployment rate, 8th highest percentage in poverty);

48. Illinois (11th highest per capita debt, 2nd largest budget deficit, 10th highest unemployment rate);

49. Rhode Island (3rd highest debt per capita, 3rd highest unemployment rate);

50. California (2nd highest unemployment rate, 18th highest percentage living in poverty).

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Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Governor's Office, Health Care, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Notable Quotables, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Politicians, Privatization on November 9, 2012| 4 Comments »

“This is what happens when Gov. Jindal removes members from the committee.”

—Rep. Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe), on Friday’s House Appropriations Committee approval of the $1.1 billion contract with Blue Cross/Blue Shield to serve a third party administrator (TPA) for the Office of Group Benefits.

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House Appropriations Committee does 180, approves controversial BCBS contract as Group Benefits TPA

Posted in Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Politicians, Privatization on November 9, 2012| 10 Comments »

The deuces were wild in Friday’s vote by the House Appropriations Committee to approve the $1.1 billion contract between the state and Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) which calls for BCBS to take over the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), which provides health care coverage for about 62,000 state employees, retirees and their dependents.

The Senate Finance Committee, meeting jointly with the Appropriations Committee, was a foregone conclusion insofar as the Piyush Jindal administration is concerned; Senate Finance was overwhelming in favor of knuckling under to Piyush all along. It was the Appropriations Committee that displayed a streak of independence last week when it voted 16-9 in favor of an immediate vote on the contract.

That motion, by Rep. Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe) prompted Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols to pull the proposal until this week.

Within hours of that vote, two members of the Appropriations Committee, Vice Chairman Cameron Henry (R-Metairie) and Joe Harrison (R-Gray) were removed by House Speaker Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles) as indisputable proof that he is Piyush pliant.

Henry and Harrison were replaced by Reps. Bryan Adams (R-Gretna) and Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport).

This time, the vote was 15-9 in favor of the contract with Adams and Seabaugh voting in favor.

Also voting in favor were two members who were absent from last week’s meeting—Reps. Patrick Connick (R-Marrero) and Jack Montoucet (D-Crowley), and two members who got the message after the demotion of Harrison and Henry and flipped last week’s “no” votes to emphatic “yes” votes this week: Reps. Henry Burns (R-Haughton) and John Schroder (R-Covington).

Two other members who voted with Jackson last week were absent Friday: Reps. Brett Geymann (R-Lake Charles) and James Morris (R-Oil City).

Now that the contract has gained the legally required approval of the two legislative committees, the next likely phase will be the courts if unsuccessful bidder United Healthcare files suit against the state as expected.

Litigation could ensue because of the selection process for the contract, which is not to exceed $1.1 billion. The BCBS bid is said to have been as much as $15 million more than that of United Healthcare.

Jackson, who had sought—and received—an attorney general’s opinion that the contract required legislative approval, said Friday’s action came despite testimony Friday that the contract, besides resulting in 111 OGB employees losing their jobs, would cost the state “millions in additional dollars.”

She said new budgetary request shows a “significant increase” in what the state will spend on claims.

Testimony from the Legislative Fiscal Office and an OGB CEO Charles Calvi did little to shed any light on questions raised by committee members but it was all but obvious from the outset how the vote would come down.

While the Appropriations Committee vote was virtually a 180 reversal of last week’s vote (16-10 in favor Friday as opposed to 16-9 opposed last week), the Senate Finance Committee’s vote was 10-3 in favor Friday compared to last week’s 11-3 vote to defer action until this week. Voting against both deferral last week and the contract this week were Sens. Sherri Smith Buffington (R-Keithville) and Ed Murray (D-New Orleans). Sen. Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge) voted against deferral last week but in favor of the contract this week. Sen. Fred Mills (R-New Iberia), who voted in favor of deferral last week, voted against the contract.

“This is what happens when Gov. Jindal removes members from the committee,” Jackson said of Friday’s vote.

“The vote last week was a vote based on the will of the legislature. The vote this week I a vote based on Jindal violating the separation of powers clause and removing members from the committee based on their vote(s).

“Testimony showed that this move would not result in state savings yet (and) because of Jindal’s overlapping interference in the legislative process, some members were backed into voting for it.”

Sen. Gerald Long (R-Natchitoches) told LouisianaVoice after the meeting that he voted in favor of the contract “because BCBS is already administering 75 percent of OGB’s claims and is doing a good job.”

He did not address the question of why he voted to put 111 OGB employees out of work who were doing an equally good job administering the remaining 25 percent of OGB claims.

One of the phrases most repeated by witnesses who spoke out against the contract as committee members talked among themselves, texted and walked around the room was “why fix something that is not broken?”

That question is yet to be addressed by anyone on either committee or from DOA.

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