Louisiana is now Taxing Pretty Much Everything

As of April 1, appropriately, Louisiana now has the highest sales tax in the nation.  We now pay five-cents on the dollar in state sales tax. Add that to your parish and city taxes and in some places you're paying 10.5% in tax on your purchase.

Buried in the twenty-five pages of revisions to the sales tax statutes you will find an astounding array of new and increased taxes.

In addition to the penny added to the state sales tax, getting the most press are the usual sin taxes: alcohol and cigarettes. The tax on cigarettes went up twenty-two cents for a new total of $1.08 tax per pack.  Taxes on beer, wine, and liquor are also up.

Our legislators have found ways to tax just about everything this time around though, and reading through the twenty-five pages of revisions is enlightening.  For example, we are now taxing Mardi Gras beads at five-percent; the purchases by krewes for those Mardi Gras throws had been previously exempt but no more.

We are also now taxing athletic events at schools now.  The old statute:

(b)(i) The sale of admissions to places of amusement, to athletic entertainment other than that of schools, colleges, and universities, and recreational events, and the furnishing, for dues, fees, or other consideration of the privilege of access to clubs or the privilege of having access to or the use of amusement, entertainment, athletic, or recreational facilities; but the term "sales of services" shall not include membership fees or dues of nonprofit, civic organizations, including by way of illustration and not of limitation the Young Men's Christian Association, the Catholic Youth Organization, and the Young Women's Christian Association.

But that statute is now revised to include taxes on admission charges to athletic events of schools, colleges, and universities (see page nine). That tax will start out at 5% and run until June 30, 2016 and then will drop to 3% for the next two years, and supposedly will expire in July 2018.  This is a terrible thing for public schools who quite often barely support their athletic programs at all. We all know that schools are always involved in one fund-raiser after another to support these programs. Car washes, candy sales, gift-wrap fundraisers, cookie dough fundraisers...it goes on and on.

Where will the extra manpower come from in collecting and accounting for these taxes at the school level?  The ripple effect of this one is disheartening.

Also now taxable at a rate of 5% are your membership fees and dues to civic organizations like the American Legion, YMCA, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Daughters of the American Revolution, local historical societies, etc.  That one is going to hit me on several fronts.

There's a new 5% tax on admission to art museums and science museums.

That non-profit camp you were going to this summer?  Now taxed at five-percent -- unless you go in July and then it's 3%.

Eyeglasses, prosthetic devices, contact lenses, and wheelchairs will be taxed at 5% as will your purchase of a dialysis machine.

Ticket sales by non-profits?  Five-percent.  So, that American Legion Style Show fundraiser?  You'll be paying taxes on that ticket.

Do you shop at the thrift shop at Barksdale or other military installation?  There's a new 5% tax on your purchase.

And you've got to wonder what they're thinking here: "Sales by blind persons who operate certain small businesses."  Five-percent.

Tickets to dance, drama or performing arts performance sponsored by domestic nonprofit organizations: Five percent.

And if you purchase a of one-of-a-kind work of art from an established location within a cultural products district, there's now a 5% tax.

But hey, it's not all bad. If you own a racehorse in a claiming race, you don't have to pay tax!

And you don't have to pay taxes on your food stamp purchases.

And you don't have to pay tax on your crawfish bait.

Most of these taxes decrease in July back down to 3% and the finally expire again in two years, but it is safe to say that Louisiana lawmakers have figured out how to tax just about everything.

Not only that, but because of the new tax on internet sales, Amazon Associates has ended its program in Louisiana. Those links to books or merchandise that used to be in my sidebar and at the end of some posts? Gone with the wind. I no longer earn revenue from those.

The debate on how we got to this situation is another story - there is plenty of blame to go around and it's certain that Bobby Jindal's shell game bookkeeping didn't help us, but neither political party is without blame.  One would hope however that Governor Edwards would consider top level pay cuts or suspension of his own pay, perhaps, rather than the salary increases he doled out upon his election. Instead we are putting the burden on the backs of those that can least afford it.

The 2014 Louisiana Legislative Session Is Underway

The 2014 Louisiana circus legislative session has arrived which is always good for some lively entertainment.
During this session legislators will deal with at least a few bills dealing with Common Core.  During the pre-filing period, at least six have been filed.

The Alexandria Town Talk has a summary of the bills so far:

• H.B. 377 by Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Moss Bluff, which creates a commission to develop new state standards; 

• H.B. 481 by Rep. Rob Shadoin, R-Ruston, calling for the development of curriculum guides prior to full implementation of Common Core in public and nonpublic schools that have chosen to use the standards; 

• H.B. 554 by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, which calls for development of state content standards and assessments subject to legislative approval and allows local school systems to develop their own standards; 

• H.B. 556 by Burns which prohibit implementing Common Core and reverts to prior standards; 

• H.B. 557 by Burns which prohibits using Common Core and creates the Student Standards Task Force to study implementation; and 

• H.B. 559 by Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Baton Rouge, which drops Common Core, implements Louisiana-based standards and prohibits using the assessment tools planned for use with Common Core.

Michael Deshotels at Louisiana Educator has a more comprehensive list of all of the education bills here and here.

In Louisiana,  the backlash against Common Core has been growing with protests around the state and anti-Common Core billboards popping up.  There is even a Stop Common Core in Louisiana Facebook group.

In other bills, legislators will deal with the normal shenanigans with the budget, such as this shell game by Gov. Bobby Jindal:

Lawmakers are particularly irked by a budget maneuver that borrows $50 million in cash from the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to pay for state health care costs. The Jindal administration would replace the money with $75 million in bonds, so the deal is good for the New Orleans area. But it would also mean less for other state construction projects, like new highways and roads. 

Jindal's proposed budget would also essentially wipe out a trust fund for elderly care, a financial resource that Louisiana expected to last for decades. The account, once flush with $800 million, has been drawn on so heavily to fill state budget gaps in recent years, it could be entirely depleted by the end of this fiscal cycle. 

The governor is also using federal money given to the state for hurricane recovery to cover expenses not directly related to disasters, including state programs for people with disabilities. Some advocates are concerned the federal government might not approve such uses of the money, though the administration is confident their proposals will hold up to scrutiny.

The outnumbered Democrats this session will try to raise minimum wage, expand Medicaid, and enact statewide fairness laws.

There will also likely be debate to reduce marijuana penalties, increasing heroin penalties, and possibly even one bill to bring back the electric chair.

NOLA has an extensive roundup of topics to watch for this session.

You can read Jindal's opening speech here.

So hang on to your hats and here we go.  As lively as this session is likely to be, I doubt it will top this momentous event (actually, let's hope it doesn't):

Iowa State University to Remove Gideon Bibles from Campus Hotel

Last week, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gave a speech at the Reagan Library in which he warned of a silent war on religion in our country;  he said:

This war is waged in our courts and in the halls of political power. It is pursued with grim and relentless determination by a group of like-minded elites, determined to transform the country from a land sustained by faith — into a land where faith is silenced, privatized, and circumscribed.

This is playing out all across our country. Prayer is forbidden in schools.  It is forbidden at most sporting events.  Creches are not allowed without other secular symbols.  Courthouses across the country have been stripped of displays of the Ten Commandments.  "Happy Holidays" is the greeting you get in shops now instead of "Merry Christmas."  It goes on and on.  We have become a nation of political correctness run amok.

Now we get a report that a guest in an Iowa State University hotel was offended by the Bible in a drawer in his room and has filed a complaint with the Freedom From Religion Foundation.  As a result, the hotel will have all Bibles removed by March 1:

Rooms at Iowa State University’s Hotel Memorial Union will no longer contain Gideon bibles, after a guest complained to a watchdog group about “unwelcome religious propaganda in the bedside table.”

The Bibles will be placed in the hotel's browsing library.

The basis of the complaint seems to be in part that the university is state run.  In that case, why not remove the Bibles from the library, too?  Isn't it also state run?

In his speech at the Reagan Library, Governor Jindal referenced a famous quote by Margaret Thatcher:

Margaret Thatcher famously said, 'Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.’ The secular elites understand this just as well as she did. And they know that to take over America, they must make war on this philosophy.

Part of the rotting of the moral fabric of our country occurs in liberal universities.

As far as I can tell, Iowa State University put up no fight whatsoever to this complaint.  Last year the campus hotel at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also removed Bibles from their rooms.

How can one Gideon Bible in a drawer be so offensive?  If I saw a Quran in a drawer would I file a lawsuit or a complaint?  I'd like to think not.  I'd just close the drawer.

Governor Jindal noted in his speech that our founding documents were designed to protect people of all religions.  It just seems that the Christian religion is the one under attack these days, from the Duck Dynasty flap to the Hobby Lobby case, Christians are constantly having to defend their rights to express their religion.

To the spineless administration at Iowa State University, I would leave you with this story about how a Gideon Bible saved one man's life.

Lower Than Obama

I tried to tell you that Gov. Bobby Jindal is not everyone's favorite governor ages ago.

Now we have the poll:

Gov. Bobby Jindal's approval rating dropped from 51 percent in October to just under 38 percent in March due to voter dissatisfaction with state fiscal and education policies, according to a poll released Tuesday. Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and U.S. Sen. David Vitter -- both possible candidates for Jindal's job in 2015 -- had approval ratings near 60 percent.

Ouch.

Where's Senator Landrieu in this poll?

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, among a group of congressional Democrats seen as highly vulnerable ahead of next year's mid-term elections, also saw her approval rating drop nearly 6 points to 56 percent. Over half of Louisiana voters polled said they would be less likely to vote for Landrieu knowing she voted for the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. 

It's true, people will be slow to forget "Louisiana Purchase" Mary".

Governor Jindal, however, is drawing fire from many areas, the least of which right now is his sales tax proposal.  Jeff Sadow has much more on that:

In essence, the plan eliminates all state income taxes in favor of an increased sales tax on more items, provides income support for individuals making $20,000 or less in earning or those drawing retirement pay at $60,000 or less, eliminates some exceptions to the tax code while retaining those designed to shield basic necessities from sales taxes, and raises taxes dramatically on tobacco consumption. The state calculates the net impact to be a small gain to the lowest-income earners with higher gains for highest-income earners, while business may end up paying more but will be advantaged by lower administrative costs and an increased amount of revenue with more money in the mass public freed up to be spent. 

 Jindal's school voucher plan is before the Louisiana Supreme Court right now; the teacher unions as plaintiffs have multiple appeals in place.

Speaking of teachers, Jindal's new Compass evaluation system kicked in at the same time teachers are trying to implement a new Common Core curriculum, and both are fraught with problems.

Gov. Jindal has also infuriated groups with his cuts to higher education.

In a Salon piece, Joan Walsh mocked Gov. Jindal's Republican convention speech and noted the criticism against him:

Yet Jindal’s other cruel cuts are set to stand – cuts to battered women’s shelter programs, to higher education, preschool programs, anti-truancy efforts and a range of other efforts to make life better for low-income people. Meanwhile Jindal wants to replace the state’s income tax with more regressive sales taxes. 

Jindal is getting it from all sides these days.

But when your numbers are lower than Obama's?  Well, that's baaaaaad.

(H/T:  Memeorandum)

Going Dark

I'm going offline for the night; I'm just ... bleh.

Doldrums.

I'm burdened with family issues right now and feeling spread too thin.  It's the end of a long week at school, too.  I've been busy on a project with my kids this week that involved giving every single student individual personal and detailed feedback on EOC practice essays (the current standardized test mandated by the State). Now I'm doing the same thing in grading research papers.  My mind is blown.

We're starting Antigone next week and then Julius Caesar.

And yet my governor thinks I'm not doing enough.  Teacher morale is low, low, low right now in Louisiana.

This op-ed in the New York Times resonated with me:

Better yet, we should abandon altogether the multiple-choice tests, which are in vogue not because they are an effective tool for judging teachers or students but because they are an efficient means of producing data. Instead, we should move toward extensive written exams, in which students could grapple with literary passages and books they have read in class, along with assessments of students’ reports and projects from throughout the year. This kind of system would be less objective and probably more time-consuming for administrators, but it would also free teachers from endless test preparation and let students focus on real learning.

Amen, buddy.

But you see, here in Louisiana we now HAVE to teach the test because 50% of our annual evaluation depends on how these kids do on that test.  And if my evaluation isn't ship-shape then I'm in a whole new world of trouble.

I don't want to get on a Jindal-hates-teachers rant right now, but it's bubbling to the surface.  I'm angry.  See Elliott Stonecipher, until I can get my thoughts to gel on that into some coherent post that won't get me fired:

...what Gov. Jindal’s 23-day public education blitzkrieg has been done to so many, many lives is a wrong thing for which there could never be a right time. 

 Yes, and remember, while this "education blitzkrieg" gets underway, we're also moving to a new, untested curriculum standard.  Madeline Cole had a good op-ed in The Shreveport Times this week:

In addition to unfair evaluation standards, our new curriculum should be taken into consideration. Over the next several years, starting this year with pre-k, Louisiana is moving to the Common Core Curriculum. In non-teacher terms, everything your children will be taught is changing to a much more rigorous program that is meant to prepare children for the real world from the time they enter the classroom. I am excited to see this in place. My problem is this: This new curriculum is new to everyone involved. Children, teachers, administration, test makers, law makers. I think it is very unfair that in the same years we have to learn a new way to teach your children we also are getting heavily evaluated. I think there should be some "get to know the program" time.

Oh I know..."good teachers" don't have anything to worry about.  So say the lawmakers who have never been in a classroom.

See.  I'm in a funk tonight.  I'm going to read my new Rick Bragg book on my Android tablet and listen to the slow, soaking rain that is falling.  Tomorrow, the Defenders of Liberty Air Show at Barksdale.  Sunny skies are predicted.

And hey, if you haven't yet...go on over and chip in a few bucks to Joseph the dog.  That dog is a survivor and I'm really pulling for him.

Governor Jindal's 23 Day Rush to Reform

Governor Bobby Jindal's divisive teacher reform legislation has passed and implementation now begins.  In just 23 days Governor Jindal and his machine pushed through a comprehensive education reform package that has drawn sharp criticism and vociferous protests from teachers around the state, many of whom feel targeted, attacked and betrayed by the governor.

What was the rush?  Why the midnight votes and rushed sessions?  Why the limited debate and public input?

Recently I was having dinner in a very small, upscale, restaurant and seated nearby was a large table of jovial, outspoken local political leaders.  It was impossible not to overhear their conversation.  Several of them surmised that Jindal's rush to get this education reform package through so quickly was to sweeten the draw to him as a vice presidential candidate.  (Oh I know, he denies he wants the position but don't they all say that?)

Elliot Stonecipher has similar thoughts about Jindal's rush to reform:

Those of us keeping up with what happens behind the political curtain have a bad feeling of deja vu on that score.  I’ve written about it enough, and won’t belabor it, but the fact is Governor Jindal strong-arms these “reforms” through a pre-leased legislature each time he’s hoping to be the vice presidential candidate on his party’s ticket.  Ramping up to the 2008 presidential election it was “ethics reform,” and four years later as we gird for the 2012 campaign it’s “education reform.”  The problem is, “ethics reform” was no such thing.  It was, rather, a huge political show for a national audience which, back here on the farm, put governors and legislators in charge of ethics enforcement.  That is never a good thing anywhere, but maybe especially not in Louisiana.  For those who keep up, we know our governmental ethics regime was not reformed, it was hammered into submission by those who are, or figure they might be on any given day, unethical.

It's a thought.  Jindal has long been touted as a top name on most everyone's short list for VP candidates.  His ability to now say that he has "reformed public education in Louisiana" would be a big selling point, especially with conservatives, many of whom believe that charter schools are the answer to many public education problems.

I do not count myself in that group, by the way.  I see lots of charter schools with problems.  I also see lots of problems with Jindal's package, but that's another post.

George Will has written a piece in support of Jindal for vice president:

"Louisiana's Gov. Bobby Jindal, 40, was a 20-year-old congressional staffer when he authored a substantial report on reforming Medicare financing. At 24, he became head of Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals, with 12,000 employees and 40 percent of the state budget. Back inWashington at 26, he was executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. In 1999, he became president of Louisiana's state university system, which has 80,000 students. In 2001, he served as an assistant secretary of health and human services. He became governor after three years in Congress."

There are many in Louisiana who would be glad for Jindal to get that opportunity.  Jeff Crouere is not impressed:

Today in Louisiana, we are facing another fiscal crisis. Job growth is anemic, crime is rampant, poverty is high, our educational system is in shambles, and our road conditions are deplorable. Our population is stagnant as we have lost a quarter of our congressional delegation in the last two decades. Governing Magazine just named Louisianaas the most corrupt state in the nation. 

Jindal might the one of the Republican darlings of the nation at large but in Louisiana there are plenty of us holding our noses.

Jindal's Education Reform Moves to The Senate and Tina Korbe Criticizes the Protests

The lightening pace of Governor Bobby Jindal's education reform has slowed a little bit.  The next step for the package is the Senate Education Committee which is expected to take up consideration of the bills possibly tomorrow.

Via NOLA:

The two bills were adopted by the House after a session that ran from 9 a.m. Thursday until early Friday.House Bill 974 by Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, which establishes new employment rules for teachers, was approved by a 64-40 vote, and House Bill 976, which would expand charter schools and establish a statewide private school tuition voucher program paid for out of the financing formula established for public schools was passed, 61-42. In each case, as many as a dozen members from each party switched sides. 

The two bills are anchors of an ambitious agenda that Jindal pitches as a way to improve student performance and, in turn, economic opportunities and overall quality of life in Louisiana. The tenure changes have drawn the ire of teachers associations and rank-and-file educators, who accuse the Republican chief executive of a frontal assault on public education, classroom teachers in particular.

The reform has been contentious and controversial at every step.

Many are unhappy with the speed with which the legislation is being passed.  It is, some think,  reminiscent of the way ObamaCare was bullied through in Washington and passed in the dead of night.  There's been no time, really, for public debate; not much time to contact legislators.  This is probably by design.  Oh, there have been teachers protesting on the steps of the State Capitol, but no real legislative hurdles have slowed Jindal's reform package which has often kept House members in session late into the night:

Via NOLA:

Late into the night, the House debated a second Jindal initiative on its way to approval in some form. House Bill 974, also by Carter, would curtail teacher tenure and scrap the existing teacher salary matrix, tying public school instructors' job status and pay to student performance measures.

The session is open until early June; what's the big rush that we have to have legislators staying in session through the night, rushing debate, curtailing public input?

Why debate at all?  NOLA is declaring this whole spectacle to have a "predetermined outcome," anyway.

No matter what side of the issue you're on, nobody can disagree with Rep. Steve Carter (R.-Baton Rouge) who said:

 "I want to give every child in Louisiana an opportunity to succeed. ... These are the most important bills we can ever consider." 

But, doesn't the fact that this is "the most important" education legislation we can consider merit more debate rather than passage at warp speed?

Don't misunderstand; clearly reform is needed.  But Jindal's plan will not solve the problem.  His plan is based on three main tenets:  get rid of bad teachers through tenure reform, enable parent choice through a voucher system, and restructure the pay scale to reward effective teachers.  It sounds good enough on the surface, right?  But there are still too many unanswered questions.  It's like you have "to pass the bill to find out what's in it," it seems.

Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, said, "We had amendments today where the authors didn't even know what was in them. ... When we finish here, the press is going to read these bills and tell us what we did."

Many questions remain.  Where's the part about parent and student accountability?  While the reform package expands the voucher program statewide, will private and charter schools be forced to take these students whose parents are trying to flee ineffective schools?  Will they all go under a lottery system or will admission standards prevail?  What will the governor do about those students who wish to leave under-performing schools but can't meet the admission standards of a private school?  What will be the accountability for those private schools?  Will they be scored the same way public schools are?  And will their teachers also fall under Actt54 and be graded effective or ineffective based on student performance on standardized tests?  How is this plan going to help those struggling public schools other than boot "ineffective" teachers out of the way?  In calculating that "ineffective" label, do you take into account the difficulty these days in removing a disruptive student from the classroom?  Will the state untie the hands of local administrators in dealing with discipline issues that certainly have an impact on a school's performance?

While national bloggers like Tina Korbe can sit in judgment of these protesting teachers, mocking their protest as "cornily themed," now might be the time to slow down and find answers to these questions and common ground on which we can all agree.  And while Korbe slaps the protesters on the wrist for not being in the classroom, she fails to explain when or how she thinks teachers might register their discontent with the Governor's steamrolling agenda or recognize that some of those districts from which those teachers come might be on spring break (as Caddo and Bossier parishes are, for example.)  Since the Legislature is meeting during school hours, when should the dissenting teachers protest?

As a public school teacher, I found this remark of Korbe's particularly offensive:

Still, protests like these suggest that adults care more to preserve the system than to improve the quality of education children receive. They also smack of a certain elitism that assumes union leaders know better than individual teachers and teachers know better than parents how to raise and educate children.  

I don't agree that protesting necessarily means a desire to preserve the system as is.  Nearly everyone agrees that some reform is needed; we have far too many kids in this state performing below grade level.  And I disagree that registering dissent "smacks of a certain elitism" or that it means that I as a teacher think I know more than the parent how to educate children.  I believe that not enough parents are involved in the process, actually.  In schools with poor demographics, for example, all too often the parents are never seen or heard from, yet under Jindal's plan they get a pass while the teacher gets hung out to dry.

The battle for education reform is nowhere near done in Louisiana but is underway and that's a start.  But Governor Jindal needs to slow it down a pace and listen to the people on the front lines.  Last time I checked, he hasn't spent any time teaching in the public school system.  There's room for us all to agree on the major issues if he'll just slow down and let us find the path.

For more on the education battle in Louisiana, The Hayride has a great aggregation of links.

Jindal's Education Wish List Skates Through Committee

Yesterday a Louisiana House panel approved most of Governor Jindal's education plan and now it's on its way.  I posted on some of the events here.

The Senate education committee meets today and the issue will continue.

NOLA has a great wrap up of the events that went late into the night here and here.

No time for analysis right now; I have three groups of sophomores to teach today.  I'll post updates later today.

Jindal's Contentious Education Reform Debate: Day One

The education debate is about to blow sky high in Louisiana.

As previously posted, Governor Bobby Jindal has sweeping reform ideas.  His plan is here.  In short, Gov. Jindal wants to expand his Recovery District Voucher program throughout the state, reform teacher tenure, and expand charter schools among other things.   (Here's the PDF of the charter/voucher bill as introduced).

Now that the Louisiana legislature is back in session, Jindal's education reform package is cycling through committees.  Hundreds of teachers (not this one) played hookey today to protest Jindal's ideas in Baton Rouge:

At least four public school systems – Baker, St. Martin, Vermilion and East Baton Rouge – and several Baton Rouge charter schools canceled classes because teachers will be rallying at the Capitol today and tomorrow, according to local media reports. In other parishes, many teachers said they still planned to make the trip using personal days even though school won't be cancelled; substitute teachers would be filling in.

NOLA has an editorial about the protest today:

Shutting down schools so teachers can rally against education bills in Baton Rouge sends a disappointing message about their priorities, and it's a shame that some school districts are taking that step. Students are expected to show up in class every day, and no less should be demanded of those responsible for educating them. 

But many teachers are heading to the state Capitol this week when the House and Senate education committees take up Gov. Bobby Jindal's education legislation.

The Pelican Post also disagrees with this action:

Politically active union leaders should refrain from separating teachers from their classroom responsibilities with standardized testing set to begin, business representatives and reform proponents are arguing in response to recent school board actions.

On Monday, the Vermilion Parish School Board and the St. Martin Parish School Board approved a “professional development day” so that teachers would be able to attend a Louisiana Senate Education Committee hearing now scheduled for Thursday. Meanwhile, the East Baton Rouge Parish Public School system has canceled school for Wednesday now that over 900 teachers have said they will be absent.

“Our board felt like it was important for our teachers to have a voice in the legislation that will impact them,” Charlotte Waguespack, assistant superintendent in Vermilion Parish, said. “Nothing specific was mentioned, it was just a general concern about the overall package.”

Via NOLA's live coverage, Senator David Vitter weighed in on the protest:

Sen. David Vitter, a Republican, took aim at teachers for coming to the Capitol in the first place rather than remaining in the class room: "As a Louisiana citizen and parent, I'm really outraged. I guess the folks behind this are making their priorities clear--forget the kids; we just care about our tenure protection and benefits. This is exactly what's wrong with the system. These folks steal a day of learning from the kids to lobby on the taxpayers' dime. And what happens? They're rewarded with a 'professional development day' to do it."

Steve Monaghan of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers defended the protest:

"This body could have had a meeting just like on a Saturday," he reminds lawmakers, i.e. "teachers didn't set this schedule." Another process complaint from Monaghan: Long, complicated bill, introduced March 3 being scheduled for a vote on March 14.

There are a number of teachers in the state who feel Jindal is "waging a war" on public education.  One (who asked to be anonymous) told me:

I regularly put in nine hour days at school then bring home papers to grade at night and on weekends.  I have weekly faculty meetings after school, sometimes before school, professional development on my planning period, workshops in the summer, (and the summer is shorter every year), more responsibilities, accountability, and paperwork piled on me each year while the students are held to very little accountability.  Now my governor wants to raise my retirement age to 67 while making me also pay more into retirement.  With the new VAT, half of my annual evaluation will depend on student performance - even the student who is just holding time until he's old enough to drop out.  Why is what I'm doing never enough for this governor?

Teacher morale is at an all time low on many fronts.  The new evaluation system that teacher references can be found here.  In short:

Act 54 calls for measures of student growth to comprise at least 50 percent of all educator evaluations, thus the new statute establishes a student-based method to assess success and incorporates other measures of professional practice in the remaining 50 percent.   To provide educators with consistent feedback, the new law also requires this process to be administered annually, instead of every three years.  Likewise, Act 54 requires intensive support for teachers who are identified as struggling.  Although thousands of educators have participated in pilot programs utilizing each of the components of the new evaluation system, the full model will be officially implemented in the 2012-2013 school year.

Some of the teachers at the protest today are worried about the fast-track Jindal's legislation is on:

"Folks are not going to have a fair hearing or the bills are not going to have a fair hearing because of fast-tracking this opportunity for people to hear the bills all in one day," said state Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge. "We've never done this before on such a major issue and fast-tracking it through the whole process is really not going to vet the bills as much as they should be vetted."

In fact, 113 amendments to the bill were introduced on the floor of the Capitol Tuesday night. The proposed changes led to a late night of work for the state's lawmakers. 

NOLA has live coverage of the committee hearings here.

As this debate unfolds in the coming days it is sure to be contentious.  Governor Jindal is adamant about the need for reform and is dedicated to seeing it through with as much of his wish list in tact as possible.  Here is his opening statement today (more video on Jindal's Facebook page):



Check back for more as this debate unfolds.

Governor Jindal Has Some National Energy Suggestions for Obama

In his weekly address, Obama attempted to perpetuate the myth that he is trying to bring down gas prices and make your life easier:

“I’m going to keep doing everything I can to help you save money on gas, both right now and in the future,” Obama said. “I hope politicians from both sides of the aisle join me.”

He myopically says "we can't just drill our way to lower gas prices," leaving the impression that his pet green energy projects are our only answer; that and to quit using so much oil.

If he is sincere in reaching across the aisle to lower energy prices he might take a look at Governor Jindal's suggestions for a clear national energy policy.

In Monday's Wall Street Journal, Jindal outlines an energy policy driven by opening drilling fields, a more rational tax code, and reversing "a series of cabinet-level decisions that are at odds with a strategy of affordable domestic energy production." 

Governor Jindal refers to Steven Chu, for example, who advocated raising gasoline prices to European levels.

Additionally, Jindal calls for Obama to approve the Keystone pipeline:

Finally, the president should announce today that he's going to reverse his decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. This pipeline would produce 20,000 construction jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs, and it would provide a much-needed transportation line between oil refineries along our Gulf Coast and production facilities in Canada, not to mention the booming Bakken oil fields of Montana and North Dakota. Our friends to the north have been reliable and steadfast trading partners, and the president should be making this pipeline decision on policy grounds instead of cheap political appeals to his liberal base.

While Obama would like to have us believe he is trying to lower gas prices and claims that drilling is at an all time high, Jindal disagrees:

While the president is quick to tell anyone who will listen that domestic oil production is higher today than at any time since 2003, that's not the whole story. The truth is that today's production levels are not based on anything this president has done, but on the decisions made by private companies before he took office. And much of this production is taking place on private land.

Even Mary Landrieu understands this.  Obama's claim is disingenuous. 

Jindal spoke about this last month in attempting to explain the slow permitting process in the Gulf.   Permits are still lagging and people down south are hurting. 

It's clear there is much this president could do to lower energy prices and in turn boost the American economy yet instead he has opted to prop up failing green energy companies, threaten us with cap and trade, and use increasingly stringent EPA regulations to shut down coal power plants. 

That's not a national energy policy; that's an economy crippling plan sure to drive investors away and put the burden on the average American consumer.

Soggy Sunday Loose Thoughts and Links

We've been under a long, soaking rain for the past couple of days which has actually been nice given that we had a terrible drought last summer from which we still haven't fully recovered.  I'm roasting a chicken for dinner, the dogs are curled up sleeping inside, and Mr. SIGIS is watching "Storage Wars" and spring training baseball.

Back in September I bought a Dell Streak and have spent the ensuing months tweaking, adjusting and experimenting with it trying to convince myself that it's just as good as an iPad.  Even though Android has lots of apps in their Marketplace, I've not been as happy with them as with the apps on my iPhone.  However, I use the tablet primarily as a reader and so when I finally found the Pulse app, my affection for my Streak has improved.  The larger screen of the tablet makes reading my favorite blogs and sites much easier than on the iPhone.

Pulse enables me to read a variety of periodicals and it gives me the option to select sites from my Google reader to put into the feed.  My Streak and I are getting along better now and while it's not exactly an iPad, it'll do for what I want it for.  Anyway, that's what I've been playing with this morning: updating my Google reader subscriptions and adding them to Pulse.

Some links from my blog surfing:

Don Surber ponders the viability of Rick Santorum:

Santorum has no money and no organization. He’s about as much an heir to Ronald Reagan’s political legacy as Ron Reagan Jr. is. As a candidate, the original Reagan was more than just a good-looking guy with an upbeat outlook and optimistic message for America. Ronald Reagan was a CEO. Over the years, he had proved himself to people inside and outside politics, enough so that when he ran for president in 1980, he had an organization.

What does Santorum have? He can barely put together a partial slate of delegates.

I'm guessing Don is going for Mitt Romney, then.  It's just dismal.  I'm sick of the Republicans eating their own throughout this campaign and have been disheartened about it for some time now.  I'm really tired of picking the lesser of two evils when I vote.  I want to vote for someone I'm excited about.  Meh.

William Teach is sure to get some liberal women fired up with this one:

For all their talking of empowerment and being their own woman, liberal women sure do seem to like being treated as incapable of using their own thoughts and taking care of themselves, and instead expect to be treated as morons and a voting block, taken care of by a man, or, well, if we’re talking liberal men, a metrosexual.

He is, of course, referring to Team Obama's strategy to appeal to women as a voter block as reported by the New York Times today.  Just don't call them "babe."

Speaking of liberals, Professor Jacobson has a new bumper sticker photo.

Bread Upon the Waters reports on a prayer vigil being organized by Team Obama for the purpose of shaping public opinion on the ObamaCare law prior to the Supreme Court consideration of the case:

This inquiring mind wants to know: Will open displays of the cross and other religious symbols be permitted in the public square at Obama's event, unlike the religious symbols at Georgetown that were covered as a condition of Obama speaking there?....

....Sadly, in the eyes of this administration, prayers and acknowledgements of the Divine are political tools.

Slightly hypocritical, I'd say.

Bride of Rove is preparing for the worst:

Think of it like the Zombie Apocalypse. My husband has been selling off things like the golf cart and boat parts and other toys so he can buy guns because, he says, they only way to stop stupid is with bullets. We hope it doesn’t come to that, but, honestly? It’s already at the gates and spreading. I did my part and bought a case of Spam and a huge bag of rice. I think we’re good. Because if and when Obama wins in November? The economy is only going to get worse. On the up side, I think Obama may be planning to start World War III this summer via Israel and Iran so … well … applying distopian survival theory, we could crawl our way out of this after all, if we survive it.

It's a depressing post but one you should probably read.  Mr. Bride of Rove is simply convinced that Obama will win in November.   If he does you can only blame the Republicans for leaving us with this sorry field of candidates.  I'm going to buy a case of Spam, too, I guess.  A truckload.  Because, BoR is right - if Obama wins, we're done for.  For more on this, see Doug Ross.

On the local front, in Jindal watch, C.B. Forgotston laments the decline of the first amendment in Louisiana as he reports on the firing by Jindal of a state employee for expressing her views in legislative testimony.  American Press has an editorial today about the firing:

On Tuesday, Martha Manuel, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Elderly Affairs, testified before the House Appropriations Committee that the governor’s plan to shift her offices to the state Department of Health and Hospitals would not be in the best interest of elderly residents.
She said Jindal never consulted her about his plan and only learned about it when she saw the office’s budget had been moved in the governor’s budget proposal.

By Wednesday morning, Manuel was unemployed, unceremoniously fired via a phone call from Tammy Woods, Jindal’s community programs director.  Asked later that day about the termination, Jindal said he had decided to go in a different direction.  Bottom line: Manuel, who was appointed to the position by Jindal in February, 2011 and made $88,587, is out of a job.

All appointees like Manuel serve at the pleasure of the governor. It’s always been that way in Louisiana and always will be. But her ouster on the eve of the legislative session’s opening sends a chilling message — dissenting opinions by Jindal’s department heads and undersecretaries will not be tolerated.

This is interesting and we'll probably be hearing more about this in the days to come.  I suspect there is more there.


The thunder is rumbling across the sky and the world outside my door is gray and inundated with water.  Tornado watches and flash flood warnings are all out.  The chicken is about roasted so I'm off to tend to that.  Enjoy your Sunday.

Is Governor Jindal the "Superman" Education Has Been Waiting For?

Last month Governor Bobby Jindal unveiled his plan for education reform in Louisiana.  Since then I've read nearly every thing I can get my hands on about the plan, both pro and con.  The discussion even motivated me to finally watch Waiting for Superman.  While I think all sides agree that something needs to be done, I still have more questions than answers about Jindal's plan. 

Full disclosure:  I'm a 16 year educator in the Louisiana public school system.  I've been at my current school since 2001 and by the Letter Grade Policy instituted by our state in 2010, my school is ranked "low performing."  I've addressed the topic of letter grades for schools on this blog before and won't rehash that one, but to be sure, it's a much more complicated equation than the current grading system allows for.

That said, let me just reiterate that I still have more questions than answers about the current state of public education.  Consider the Superman documentary, for example.  The kids highlighted in that film all had a concerned, dedicated parent pushing them and pushing to get them into a charter school.  What about kids that don't have that?  What about kids that don't have someone pulling for them like that? 

The film criticizes "the tracking system" and stresses the idea that every single kid go to college.  Is this truly realistic or just utopian and is one considered a "bad teacher" for suggesting that not all kids are in fact college material?  (I personally am not advocating one way or the other at this point so save your hate mail; I'm just posing questions here).

In Louisiana, one of the ideas Governor Jindal has put forth is to expand the voucher program that has been in place since 2003.

“First, our plan will expand the existing Scholarship Program statewide for low-income students at C, D and F schools."

Some educators have a problem with this citing a lack of slots in private schools as well as questions about the criteria for holding private and parochial schools accountable.  


And what of the students who don't meet the academic requirements to get into these schools in the first place?   As noted in Waiting for Superman, most states have large numbers of children reading below grade level and performing poorly in math, too.  Will private and parochial schools have to take those students anyway or will they just be stuck in those failing schools?


Governor Jindal is also advocating creation of more charter schools, getting tougher on school discipline, and finding ways around that tenure rule:

First, we’re going to empower districts to use compensation to keep good teachers by stopping forced pay increases to ineffective teachers, allowing them to pay effective teachers more, and by allowing them more flexibility in how they structure salaries. 

“Second we’re going to ban the practice of using seniority to make personnel decisions of any kind, including ending the practice of “last in, first out” in reductions in force, prioritizing effectiveness instead.  Performance-blind personnel decisions cost money and talent. 

Of course, there are still questions about how to best determine what an "effective" or "highly effective" teacher is.  


Some teachers are in schools where students have had strong parental support and expectations at home their entire lives.  They've had a history of good schools behind them and when they get into high school they are on or near grade level.  But what of the teacher in the school where many children struggle daily just to survive, have little or no parental support, and reach high school having not been on grade level since second or third grade?  Is that high school teacher going to be "ineffective" if he or she can't get that student on grade level in one school year?


The Louisiana legislature doesn't go into session until March so as of now there is no actual legislation to study.  Most seem to think that Governor Jindal will get some of his measures passed but not all.  He will surely come under fire from both sides.


As I said, more questions than answers at this point.


Thoughts?

Thank You Senator Peacock!

Back in October I endorsed Barrow Peacock for Louisiana Senate 37 in his race against term limited Rep. Jane Smith and I took some heat on this blog for it in the comments:

Thankfully, people do not take stock in what a low traffic blogger has to say about politics. Your bias against Representative Smith discredits you as a viable source of anything other then ignorant opinions.

I have to say, we at SIGIS enjoyed the give and take on that one!  (It got worse from there.)  Heh! 

 Mr. Peacock won that race and this week he showed his constituents why we voted for him.  He was the lone vote against John Alario for Senate president.

John Alario has served as an elected politician for 41 years now;  thirty-seven of those years he served as a Democrat until he decided it would be politically expedient to switch to Republican.  I wrote about Governor Jindal's outrageous support of Alario in late October.

John Alario was quite open at the time of his party switch about the fact that the switch was motivated by political expediency.

From my American Thinker article in November:

Alario was elected to the House in 1972, was term-limited in 2007, and decided to run for the Senate.  His primary goal was to serve as Senate president.  As Alario said:

"Whether I'm a Democrat or Republican or the Whig party, I'd like to be president of the Senate," Alario said. Switching parties "certainly plays into the politics of the situation ... it doesn't hurt to be in that party."

If this happens, Alario will become the second politician in Louisiana history to be president of both chambers, but to attain that objective, he needed to change parties, after 37 years, from Democrat to Republican.

At any rate, the election has come to pass.  Alario has been elected and as demanded by his constituents, Senator Barrow Peacock was the lone vote against him:

The lone vote against Alario was cast by Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Shreveport. He said after the housekeeping legislative session at the inauguration that he promised his conservative district during the campaign that he would vote against Alario. "It was a campaign issue in District 37," Peacock said.

Senator Peacock chose to stand up against career politicians and the good ol' boy system.  

The only question now is will he be punished with a sorry committee assignment or ostracized by the system?  

SIGIS thanks Senator Peacock for his courage in taking a stand and for honoring his promises.  This is the kind of politician we need - one who recognizes he is a public servant, not there to feed from the taxpayer trough for 41+ years. 

We're In American Thinker Today: Check it Out

If you get a moment today, please check out my article over at American Thinker:

Even though Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal just won re-election in a landslide victory, there is a growing rumbling of discontent statewide among conservatives.  While Jindal is being touted nationwide as the next great hope for the Republican Party, there are folks in Louisiana who would beg to differ.  How can that be with such an overwhelming mandate?  In last week's election, Jindal carried all 64 of Louisiana's parishes.  What could be wrong?

It's similar to my previous post on Jindal, but goes into more detail. 


See also my recent post on Jindal's new slush fund.


Lest it seem like I'm picking too much on ol' Bobby, let me just say, I like Bobby Jindal.  I think he's done a lot of good for the state, but like many other conservatives, I want him to live up to the campaign promises he made.  The never-ending brouhaha over NGOs continues every legislative session despite Jindal's vow to veto any request that did not have state-wide benefit.  He's raised the ire of many with his frequent nationwide travels.  


And now, John Alario.


Seriously?!


Chad Rogers at The Dead Pelican has info on how to contact your Senator if the Alario situation outrages you as it does me.

Gov. Jindal Wants New $80 Million Slush Fund

Just as critics of the recently approved Amendment No. 1 predicted,, Governor Jindal is making plans to ask the legislative budget committee to establish a new slush fund for "economic development" when the Legislature meets next year.

The constitutional amendment, approved October 22, was approved by a 69.6% to 30.4% margin.  It changes the state Constitution to make permanent a four-cent cigarette tax, a tax increase that was to expire next year.  The Legislature had previously attempted to extend the tax as a separate measure, but Jindal vetoed it as a "tax increase."  The amendment also changes funding for TOPS, the Louisiana merit-based scholarship program which benefits about one-third of Louisiana's full time college students.

TOPS is funded through the general fund as well as through investment revenue generated from the Millennium Trust.  About 11% of TOPS funding came from the Millennium Trust last year (about $16.1 million).

The Millenium Trust was established in 1999 and  holds the proceeds of tobacco settlement the State of Louisiana receives.  The Trust funds TOPS and two other educational programs, one of which would receive the revenue from the four-cent cigarette tax.

Back to the Amendment: it takes about $40 to $45 million per year that has annually been deposited from the tobacco settlement into the base monies of the Trust and moves it straight into TOPS. The base amount of the Trust would be frozen.

The result is that funding for TOPS will rely less heavily on the general fund. 

The Public Affairs Research Council explains (emphasis mine):

This amendment and companion legislation would redirect annual tobacco settlement payments ($40-45 million per fiscal year) that currently are deposited into the Millennium Trust and place them directly into the TOPS fund, beginning with proceeds received after April 1, 2011. This change would provide a new dedicated revenue stream for TOPS. The proposal allows TOPS to receive two payments – totaling about $80 million – from the tobacco settlement during the current fiscal year and single payments in subsequent fiscal years

Of this amendment, C.B. Forgotston recommended a "No" vote:

It’s not about TOPs it is about giving more of our hard-earned tax dollars to the governor and the leges to waste. It really about a tax increase which can not be lowered or repealed without another amendment to the constitution which we will have to depend on the leges to put on the ballot.  This is a very poor precedent to establish in a state that badly needs tax reform.
We shouldn’t be forced to address two separate issues in one amendment. Tell the leges to do it right and stop playing games with our constitution.

Now that the Amendment has passed and the general fund will bear less of a burden to support TOPS, Jindal wants that $80 million for a slush fund for "economic development":

Jindal’s spokesman, Kyle Plotkin, said the governor will ask a legislative budget committee to approve money for economic development projects as needed from the $80 million.

When the Legislature meets next year, the governor will ask for the balance of the money to be deposited into an economic development megafund, Plotkin said.

The megafund is designed to provide incentives for businesses building large projects in Louisiana.

The plot thickens when you realize that Louisiana is facing a potential budget crisis contingent on the outcome of a lawsuit filed in response to the leges taking $198 million from the Rainy Day fund two years ago without replacing it.  Should the State lose that lawsuit, they'll have to pay back $150 to $200 million to the Rainy Day Fund, some of which would have to come from the $80 million slush fund.

Does it surprise anyone that John Alario was the sponsor of the Amendment?

It seems to me to be just a shell game with the State's money. 

I might be mixing apples and oranges here, but with the leges record of funding NGOs and designating pet projects for their districts with state money, something Jindal said he would NOT allow but certainly has (extensively), I'm not convinced that we need to designate another $80 million for anyone to play with. 

If the leges believe that a new fence in a private subdivision in New Orleans is a wise use of state dollars that "benefits the entire state," I can only imagine what they will decide to do with $80 million toward "economic development" or "incentives" to entice businesses. 

Time to Melt the Phones in Louisiana

Via The Dead Pelican, the Louisiana Republican Party then, and now:

Many seem to be taking Jindal's recommendation of John Alario for State Senate President.

What's changed?  Besides the letter after Alario's name?

The Hayride is asking for statewide outrage.  Here's the contact list:


1st District – A.G. Crowe is the incumbent and likely retainer of the seat.
A. G. Crowe: 985-788-7551
“Nita” Rusich Hutter: 504-920-9020

2nd District – Republicans are longshots in this one.
Alfred “Al” Carter: 985-870-5548
Zaine “The Queen” Kasem: 225-747-6288

6th District – an open seat that will be Republican.
“Mike” Mannino: 225-261-8346
Mack “Bodi” White Jr.: 225-261-3903

8th District – Alario’s seat.
John A. Alario Jr.: 504-347-3556
You won’t likely get anywhere calling Alario and telling him not to run, and he’s unopposed, but this entry wouldn’t be complete without including contact information for him.

9th District – uncontested GOP seat.
Conrad Appel: 504-887-6026

10th District – uncontested GOP seat.
Daniel R. “Danny” Martiny: 504-464-9045

11th District – Jack Donahue is the incumbent.
“Jack” Donahue Jr.: 985-727-7949
Gary J. Leonard: 985-845-3766

12th District – Democrat Ben Nevers is the incumbent.
“Beth” Mizell: 985-839-3508

13th District – Dale Erdey is the incumbent.
Derek Babcock: 225-505-9505
Dale Erdey: 225-686-7405

14th District – Democrat Yvonne Dorsey is the incumbent.
Christopher Toombs: 225-590-1225

16th District – uncontested GOP seat.
“Dan” Claitor: 225-757-0159

18th District – uncontested GOP seat.
“Jody” Amedee: 225-647-1300

19th District – outgoing Senate President Joel Chaisson’s seat and a crucial pickup if Alario is to be prevented from getting the Senate presidency.
Garrett C. Monti: 985-240-4114

20th District – uncontested GOP seat.
“Norby” Chabert: 985-232-9882

21st District – open seat sure to go Republican (no Dems are running).
R. L. “Bret” Allain II: 337-828-9107
Darrin Guidry: 985-872-6658

22nd District – uncontested GOP seat.
Fred “T-Fred” Mills Jr.: 337-332-3475

23rd District – open seat that went uncontested to the GOP.
Patrick “Page” Cortez: 337-993-0603

25th District – uncontested GOP seat.
Dan “Blade” Morrish: 337-477-7754

26th District – uncontested GOP seat.
Jonathan Perry: 337-643-2057

27th District – open seat that went uncontested to the GOP.
“Ronnie” Johns: 337-625-4431

28th District – Democrat Eric Lafleur is the incumbent.
Paul “Doc” Miller: 337-331-2550

29th District – open seat; Democrat Rick Gallot is the favorite and inexplicably was endorsed by Jindal.
Tony “Bo” Vets: 318-419-2235

30th District – John Smith, a Democrat party-switcher, is the incumbent.
James David Cain: 337-328-7266
John Smith: 337-397-7222

31st District – uncontested GOP seat.
Gerald Long: 318-354-2879

32nd District – uncontested GOP seat.
Neil Riser: 318-649-0977

33rd District – uncontested GOP seat.
Michael A. “Mike” Walsworth: 318-614-0336

35th District – Bob Kostelka is the incumbent.
Harris Brown: 318-388-2500
“Jeff” Guerriero: 318-325-4306
Robert W. “Bob” Kostelka: 318-323-7591

36th District – uncontested GOP seat.
Robert Adley: 318-965-9513

37th District – open seat likely to remain Republican.
Barrow Peacock: 318-518-0812

38th District – Sherri Cheek is the incumbent.
Sherri Smith Cheek: 318-687-4820
Troy Terrell: 318-773-1111

39th District – Democrat Lydia Jackson is the incumbent.
“Jim” Slagle: 318-375-3536

Melt the phones!