John Bel Edwards Ready to Buy Teacher Votes for 2019

After listening to Governor John Bel Edwards rant and rail about Louisiana's fiscal cliff all spring, and after listening to Louisiana politicians wrangle over a single penny for months, now things have changed.  Now we are looking at an election year and Edwards wants to buy teacher votes to ensure his re-election in 2019.

The budget crisis gripped the state all spring and into the summer: old people in nursing homes got letters of eviction; every program imaginable was threatened with loss of funding from TOPS scholarships to food stamps.  Eventually, after scaring everyone in the state to death, legislators agreed on a 4.45% sales tax rate to save the day, plus some other shell game moves.

The crisis averted, the governor now looks toward re-election in 2019 and where else to start loading his votes but on the backs of teachers. This plan worked so well for him in his initial run as his wife, a former music teacher, appeared on television asking all of her brethren to vote for her husband because he knows what teachers go through.  He believes in teachers, she said.

That may be so, but we still have John White as our State Superintendent of Education and because of that we still have canned, scripted lessons in our classrooms and for that I hold John Bel Edwards responsible.

Granted, Edwards did not hire White; that distinction belongs to Bobby Jindal.  And Edwards has at times seemed interested in questioning White's job security:

In a renewal of tensions, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Wednesday his office is reviewing state Superintendent of Education John White's job status.  

Edwards, in his statewide radio show, said White should have faced state Senate confirmation during the 2017 regular legislative session, which did not happen. "He needed to be confirmed to continue to serve," the governor said. "We are looking at that situation."  

Edwards, an attorney, said the issue may need to be litigated but that he was not prepared to make an announcement.

That was over a year ago.

Efforts through the courts to remove White have failed due to lack of standing; the efforts have not come from Edwards who, according to the court, is one of only four people who could challenge White's contract.

As a teacher, it's probably not in my best interest to criticize John White, but as a human being I do think that the current curriculum that White has implemented across the state is a failure, a mess, and is dangerous to the future of our students.

I know students who used to love reading and love English who now hate it.  This is true.

I will never, ever be a fan of a canned, scripted curriculum that strips autonomy from teachers, that removes the teachable moment from the classroom, that requires teachers to read from scripts, annotate thick binders of scripted teacher notes, produce said annotations on demand, display canned PowerPoint slides, or that requires students to read the same non-fiction speeches and texts over and over and over and fill out the same graphic organizers over and over and  over for each one.

I could go on, but I'll stop with that.

And for this, I hold John Bel Edwards responsible.

It is almost without exception that each election cycle the politicians use educators and first responders as pawns to get themselves back into office.  The only time anyone ever seems to care about paying teachers or police officers an adequate salary is during an election year.  Otherwise they threaten old people with loss of health insurance coverage and terrify college kids with loss of scholarships unless they get more tax dollars with which they can continue spending lavishly on pet programs.

It's no wonder I've lost my taste for political blogging.

I don't know who is running against Edwards yet, but I'll be looking their way and listening to what they have to say about curriculum in our public schools.

They can keep their bribe money; I just want my classroom back.


Further Reading:
Louisiana's Future First Lady Donna Edwards has her Husband's Ear on Education Issues (NOLA, January 5, 2016)
Louisiana House Approves Compromise Sales Tax (NOLA, June 22, 2018)
With Cuts Near, Edwards Says Time for Solutions is Now (U.S. News, June 18, 2018)
What is a Scripted Curriculum and How Flexible is it? (SIGIS, May 30, 2018)
The Effects of Student-Teacher Relationships: Social and Academic Outcomes of Low-Income Middle and High School Students (Opus; NYU, 2013)
Meet John White (La DOE)
Teacher Slams Scripted Common Core Lessons that Must be Taught Word for Word (Washington Post, November 30, 2013)

Louisiana's Criminal Justice Reform: Sheriff Prator Expresses Concern

Last week Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator visited with Erin McCarty and Robert J. Wright on 710 KEEL radio about Governor John Bel Edwards touted Criminal Justice Reform.

The bipartisan legislation revamping the way Louisiana deals with criminals and crime was passed in 2017 in an attempt to lower Louisiana’s notoriously high incarceration rate. The reform bill was authored by six Republicans, two Democrats, and one Independent. Those designations mean little though; in Louisiana all you have to do to get re-elected to the other side of the legislative chamber is change your political affiliation, if not your beliefs.

In a meeting with President Donald Trump in early August, Governor John Bel Edwards said, "In Louisiana, we're proud of the work we've done. It's been sentencing reform, prison reform, and a real focus on reentry and for the first time in 20 years, I can tell you Louisiana does not have the highest incarceration rate in the nation today."

In 2017, U.S. News and World Report listed the top ten states with the highest incarceration rate in the nation and Louisiana was number one, and designated the prison capital of the world.

Everyone agrees there is a problem here but consensus begins to diverge when we begin to nail down what those problems are and how to solve them. Senator John Kennedy, (R-LA) is one of those voices against the new reforms: “Well, the governor and I just disagree,” said Kennedy. “He thinks our problem in Louisiana is we have too many prisoners. I think our problem is we have too many people committing crimes.”

Sheriff Prator is more specific. In his visit on KEEL radio last week he enumerated several changes he believes are problematic. One of his concerns is that the re-entry programs that are supposed to help the newly released acclimate into society are not yet in place. “We’re designing the bus while we’re driving the bus,” he said, “and somebody is gonna get killed, and people are getting killed…”.

Sheriff Prator is referring to two prisoners who were arrested on drug charges that were released in November, who have now committed murder, and have been rearrested. One of these was in Ouachita Parish and the other in Bossier Parish.

These re-entry programs are supposed to be funded in part by the savings gained from lowering the incarceration rate. Sheriff Prator directs citizens to page 38 of the Practitioners Guide for the new reforms which explains that in the first year, 35% of the savings will go to the Office of Juvenile Justice for Strategic Investments and to the Department of corrections for the same purpose. Nobody has said what those strategic investments are; Sheriff Prator did not know.

Still in the first year, 14% of the savings will go to Victims’ services (this number drops to 10% after the first year.) Twenty-one percent goes to “Grants: community-based programs” (drops to 15% after year 1) and 30% of the savings from early release goes to the General Fund to be spent at legislators’ discretion.

What concerns Sheriff Prator a great deal can be found on pages 6 and 7 of the Practitioner’s Guide which outlines new thresholds and penalties for non-violent crimes. Apparently, we are not all in agreement on what “non-violent” means. For example, under the new law, a person could barge into my home with a firearm and could be free the very next day. This is now a probationary offense.

Specifically, the former penalty for this was mandatory five to thirty years. Now it is 1-30 years and the one year is not mandatory, according to Sheriff Prator.

 Another example: no longer considered a violent crime is “mingling harmful substances”; in other words, if someone drops a date rape drug in your drink, this is a non-violent offense. So is extortion and a drive-by shooting if you happen to miss hitting a person. See page 7 of the Practitioners Guide for these.

Here is the chart found on page 7 of the Guide:

Reducing Minimum and Maximum Sentences, p. 7

 Penalties for crimes have been drastically altered as well, such as debt forgiveness. One scenario described by Sheriff Prator would be that of a repeat offender for theft, for example. If the judge orders that person to reimburse the victim, the most they have to pay back is the equivalent of one day’s wage per month, and if they do that for one year the balance of the debt is forgiven.

 Additionally, third and fourth DWI offenses are now backed down to probation and may qualify for diversion, which means that it is not recidivism if it never happened. At least on record.

Nobody, not even Sheriff Prator, thinks our prison system was without fault before these reforms. Everyone agrees that change was needed. But perhaps we have once again passed a bill without really knowing what is in it. At the very least, we have passed a bill that releases prisoners without the safety net to keep them from reoffending. Those programs simply do not exist yet and that is not a good situation for the citizens of Louisiana or the newly released.

Read the Practitioner’s Guide; it’s not a complicated document. You can find it here.

Further Reading:
U.S.News and World Report:  10 States with Highest Incarceration Rates (7/26/17)
Two Louisiana Inmates released early under reform accused of murder: The Advocate (8/2/18)
Louisiana's Criminal Justice Reforms 2017: Pew Research Group (3/1/18)
Governor Edwards Meets with President Trump: WAFB (8/10/18)
Disputes over La. Criminal Justice Reform Continue: KTBS (8/16/18)
Sheriff Steve Prator Highly Critical Of Prison Reform Efforts KEEL Radio (8/22/18)
Louisiana's Justice Reinvestment Reforms Practitioner's Guide (8/1/17)
Equal Justice Initiative

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.

Crisis in Louisiana

Here's a snip of my latest post at DaTechGuy blog: 

 When news broke this past Thursday that John Bel Edwards had halted all payments to the enormously popular college scholarship program, you could feel the panic and desperation throughout the state.  

 Thursday afternoon, February 11, word came down about the program via NOLA:  

Gov. John Bel Edwards' budget chief, Jay Dardenne, said the state will have to leave TOPS approximately $28 million short of what it would take to fully fund the program through the end of the semester. He said all public universities will be informed that they would not receive all their TOPS payment this spring. 

Dardenne added that TOPS could only be fully funded this year if the Legislature agreed to raise taxes a lot -- over a half a billion dollars -- in the next couple of months. Even then, the Edwards administration would likely prioritize filling a shortfall in the Medicaid program before the college scholarship program would receive the money it needs.

The TOPS program began in 1989 and, in brief, it pays college tuition to in-state universities for Louisiana students who score a certain percentage on the ACT and who maintain a certain GPA. The intent was to keep our kids here in the state. Through the years the requirements have been tweaked with the GPA requirement now at 2.5 and the ACT score now at 20. You can read more specifics here.  

Now, there are a couple of things to look at in those two paragraphs from NOLA: first, Dardenne said basically that those students already enrolled in the spring semester are on the hook for the balance of the tuition they had been told would be paid through their scholarship. Literally what he said was that the colleges would “absorb” the cost of the unpaid balance. Recall that higher education throughout the state has already been decimated by Bobby Jindal and there is no room to “absorb” anything.  

Students across the state went to bed Thursday night anticipating bills for the balances to hit their mailboxes any moment. 

The second thing to note from that NOLA quote is that Dardenne indicated that even if the money to fund TOPS was found, it would instead go toward funding Medicaid rather than satisfying the promised TOPS debt.

Go to DaTechGuy to read the whole thing.

Everywhere I've been over the past few days you can hear worried, subdued conversations about the tax increases and the proposed cuts. Edwards has the entire state under emotional blackmail.

And now we have the race card. Can we just stop already with the racial division?

The Special Session has begun and it is already contentious.  Whatever lawmakers ultimately decide to do, you can be certain that you'll be paying higher taxes on everything, and new taxes on things you don't pay taxes on now, and that the TOPS program will be decimated with cuts up to 80%.

Dark days ahead.

Added:  

It gets worse.

And worse. The deficit has grown an additional $17 million.

Voter Apathy Killed Louisiana

I am disgusted by the apathy in yesterday's election here in Louisiana.  As I understand it, the early numbers show about a 39.7% turnout, only slightly higher than the October primary.  As of this writing, official numbers are not yet compiled.

In general, I am disgusted with the outcome.  Louisiana has returned a Democrat to the gubernatorial mansion primarily based on the fact that the Republican candidate was embroiled in the DC Madam scandal in 2007. Republicans I talked to just couldn't vote for Senator Vitter because he committed adultery and they couldn't find it in their Christian hearts to forgive him or to look at his conservative political record.  They either stayed home or voted for the Democrat.

John Bel Edwards won the election by a 56% to 43% margin.  Edwards campaigned as a moderate Democrat; he is an Obama supporter.  One of the first things Governor Edwards will do is to accept the Louisiana Medicaid expansion portion of Obamacare.

Another problem I saw with Edwards is that he is in the pocket of the trial lawyers and would do little to support the tort reform that is contributing to the anti-business climate in this state.  The business climate in this state is dismal...that is unless all you want to come in is more chain restaurants and tattoo parlors.  Not much else is happening here.

Edwards also wants to raise the minimum wage -- another anti-business move.

I also find it unsettling that Edwards seems to have no clear position on whether or not he would accept more Syrian refugees into Louisiana and that he has been obfuscating his earlier positions on this for what is apparently a more popular stance.  The Hayride outlined this word-juggling here.  Initially, Edwards posted on Facebook that he would be an "active participant" in talks with the feds so that "we can be partners in the effort to accommodate refugees...".  Well, if we can forgive Vitter for adultery eight years ago, (as his wife did, by the way), certainly we can forgive Edwards a little verbal nuance, no?  Everyone's entitled to change their mind, except when they lie about it.

Initially, Edwards want to accommodate and assist the Syrian refugees coming into Louisiana.  After his Facebook posts advocating this position, and the grief he took for it in the comments, he changed his mind.  Curious.

Both campaigns manipulated language and positions to enhance themselves; that is the nature of modern politics.  David Vitter was a flawed candidate and it looks like in general, Republicans just opted for the Democrat or else stayed home just to punish the Republican party for such sorry offerings.  The collateral damage of that is that good men like Henry Burns lost their elections.

State Representative Henry Burns was in a run-off with Bossier City attorney Ryan Gatti.  Burns lost that race by less than 100 votes.  That race wasn't in my district and I don't know much about Mr. Gatti; both candidates are Republicans.  I know Henry Burns though, and I know there is no finer, kinder man.  I've witnessed the work he's done for and with veterans and for this area.  He was a small business owner and understands the needs and responsibilities of the working man trying to make a living.  He's had an exemplary record in the House and I've never heard a negative word about him.  The only reason he lost his race is voter apathy.  What a shame.

My district BESE race didn't turn out as I wished either.  We had a choice between an educator and a non-educator in that one.  A choice between a woman who has been in education for 27 years and has been a school principal, who opposed Common Core, and a man that supports Common Core and has never worked in education.  The Tony Davis campaign released a photoshopped picture of his opponent, Mary Harris, with Governor Bobby Jindal in a heart-shaped frame to make the claim that Harris would be a "rubber-stamp" for Gov. Bobby Jindal (who won't be in office after January).  That the Davis campaign took the photo of Harris, which originally was on her Facebook page and was of her with Dr. John Fleming -- not Jindal, and photoshopped it to further their own campaign is just dirty politics.

But that's what Louisiana elected last night.

In the Caddo Parish District Attorney's race, we elected the candidate that accepted the George Soros money.  Judge Stewart may be a fine man and a fair judge, but I couldn't vote for Soros money.

All in all, it's a sad lot of affairs.

Elliot Stonecipher's new article offers a few pinpricks of optimistic light this morning.  We did elect Billy Nungesser as Lt. Governor over the Democrat Kip Holden, and we did elect Jeff Landry as Attorney General.

And by the end of the night, Senator Vitter declared that he won't run for re-election to the Senate which opens that slot up to some excellent candidates such as Rob Maness, Charles Boustany, and John Fleming.  There will be a strong Republican field for that seat.

It was a disappointing night for conservatives in Louisiana, but overall it was the apathy that killed us.  If we don't care about our political leaders any more than 39%, we deserve what we get.  We deserve the Common Core, the Syrian refugees, Obamacare, jacked up minimum wage, anti-business climate, and all of the other liberal dreck that comes with it.

On Holding Our Noses to Vote in the Gubernatorial Election

What am I missing here?

In the Louisiana gubernatorial election coming up on November 21 many of my very conservative friends are voting for John Bel Edwards.  I generally consider myself pretty politically astute and so this mystifies me.  Why?

The only reason I am getting is that they can't stand Vitter and believe he is morally corrupt.

There may be more to it, but I'm mystified.

I don't love David Vitter; his voice grates on my nerves and I think he looks smug most of the time, but given a choice between him and John Bel Edwards, I have to go with Vitter.

As far as I can tell, both candidates appear to be the same on some issues:  both oppose same sex marriage although Edwards would allow it because it's the law.  Both oppose Common Core and are against abortion.  Both are pro-Second Amendment.

Where they differ: Edwards wants to raise the minimum wage (a move that I oppose) while Vitter thinks that would inhibit job creation.

Edwards supports medical marijuana, Vitter does not.

Edwards wants to expand Louisiana's Medicaid rolls, and Vitter, while willing to consider Medicaid expansion, wants to be sure the state can afford it.  He wants a clear plan and that those receiving the benefit are actually working.

Vitter and Edwards disagree on education: Edwards opposes charter schools and Vitter is for them.  I disagree with Vitter on this one.  This is my position on "school choice" and I know I'm probably not in the majority here: I think we already have school choice.  You don't like your neighborhood school, then you can go to a private school or move to another neighborhood.  Expensive?  Sure is.  My position is that we should work to improve the schools we have.  Elect strong school board members, work in the PTA, volunteer as a mentor in your school.  Support the bond issues that come up locally to improve your schools such as those to upgrade technology.  There are things we can do to improve local schools beyond government vouchers to pay for sending kids to out of district schools.

I know - I'm going to get blasted for that.  I know I differ from many of my conservative friends on that issue.

But the clincher for me is that John Bel Edwards supports Barack Obama and can be seen in the crowd endorsing him for president in the video below.  My opposition to Obama is well documented and I can't support Edwards based just on that if it comes down to nothing but that.



Add to the list that the liberal Edwards received a failing grade from The Louisiana Family Forum.

And this attack ad from Edwards?  Beyond the pale.

So, the remaining days until the election will certainly get ugly, but I hope we don't end up with a liberal Democrat at the end of the day.  That's the last thing we need in Louisiana.

Maness Needs to Pull Out of Senate Race

I've been working on a post for DaTechGuy on Mary Landrieu and "Flight-Gate"; be sure to click over there Monday afternoon and check it out.  She's having a pretty bad week.

In the course of doing some research for that post, I've been looking at the poll numbers for the November U.S. Senate race.  No offense to Col. Maness or his supporters, but he needs to follow the lead of Rep. Paul Hollis and get out of this race.  I know that Sarah Palin has endorsed Maness, and I know that the Tea Party loves him, and he's probably the best man for the job in all honesty.  I like his credentials a lot.

But.

He's not getting the numbers.  

True, Maness has picked up some important endorsements lately:

The remaining Republican opponent for Cassidy is Colonel Rob Maness, a 32-year Air Force veteran. Maness has been endorsed by leading Tea Party and conservative organizations. He received a major boost when he was endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who frequently tangles with the establishment wing of the Republican Party. He has also picked up support from the Senate Conservative Fund and the Tea Party Express. Today, he was endorsed by the Family Research Council and their PAC Chairman Tony Perkins, former Louisiana State Representative. Perkins is a leader in the social conservative movement in Louisiana and is closely associated with pro-life and pro-family organizations in the state. 

This endorsement should end the discussion of Maness dropping out of the Senate race. Many Cassidy supporters have been pushing for Maness to end his campaign, so Republicans can “unite” behind the Congressman. This endorsement is the latest sign that the Colonel is not going anywhere as Perkins surely would not have endorsed a candidate who is not fully committed to the race until the end.

And maybe this will spike Maness's numbers but I'm not seeing it.  Rep. Cassidy might be a RINO, as evidenced by his support for Obamacare, but it seems to me that he's the only person that's going to beat Landrieu and if we don't do ANYTHING else, we have to defeat Landrieu.  

To nobly stand behind a candidate that can't win won't help us in the long run.

This goes against everything I know:  I usually vote for the conservative candidate no matter what the establishment GOP says. The establishment GOP usually picks RINOS (see Crist v. Rubio).   But drastic times call for drastic measures.  There are still about 2.5 months in the campaign, and with Flight-Gate now in the news cycle Landrieu's numbers can be expected to dip slightly.  I don't think it will cause a major drop in her numbers because the general public doesn't follow this sort of thing much.  

While one would have hoped that the conservative Maness could have pulled this one off, the numbers don't show any possibility, the race is too close, and the stakes for the future and continued existence of our country are too high.  

It makes me sad, but reality bites.

Craig McCullough Challenges Big Names in Louisiana

Via The Other McCain, here's a pretty darn good message:



That's Craig McCulloch and he's running for Congress in Louisiana's 6th district.  He'll be challenged by a plethora of other candidates.

There are at least seven Republican candidates in this race, one of which is Paul Dietzell II, a name most in Louisiana will recognize.  Most folks in this state can tell you all about his grandfather's Chinese Bandits

and his career as head coach at LSU.  You just can't buy name recognition like that.

Another candidate with great name recognition in this race is state Senator Dan Claitor.  Claitor's Bookstore has been a respected publisher in the state for years with a focus on important cultural, literary, and historical subjects in Louisiana.  Dan Claitor was elected in 2009 for the seat vacated by Bill Cassidy who is now running against Senator Mary Landrieu.  (In that particular race, Sarah Palin has endorsed Col. (Ret.) Rob Maness.)  The district has been redrawn in this convoluted image via NOLA.

There are two Democrats in the race right now and anything can happen, but Craig McCulloch has a very good message.  This one will be interesting to watch.

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):

Education Challenges in Louisiana for 2014

Michael Deshotels has a new post regarding education challenges (and progress) in Louisiana for 2014:

Unfortunately the new Common Core curriculum was adopted by Louisiana and many other states sight-unseen. None of it was tested before being mandated. As a result, we are finding many flaws in the program relating to early childhood education, English standards that seem to be too narrow, and math standards that require unorthodox and impractical methods. Now many parents are finally demanding accountability from the reformers!They are objecting to their kids being guinea pigs for untested math and ELA methods. They are siding with teachers against the abuse of standardized testing and the use of their childrens' private data to create profit opportunities for multinational corporations, and to prejudice future employers against their children.  

Teachers are finally talking to their elected legislators about the abuses of VAM and Compass and the lack of support from the state Department of Education as officials mandate untested curricula and expect the teachers to fend for themselves while remaining vulnerable to firing based on student test scores. One legislator commented at a recent hearing on the botched Common Core implementation in Louisiana, that he had visited all schools in his district and had found almost all teachers considering either leaving the state or taking early retirement.

Read the whole thing.

Landrieu Faces Epic Battle in 2014Senate Race

The Advocate is looking ahead to the epic battle that will be the 2014 Senate race in Louisiana:

The end result means tens of millions of dollars are being funneled into Louisiana for a critical U.S. Senate race that could determine which party controls the Senate in 2015. More outside spending is allowed because of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case, which allows some third-party groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigns because of free-speech protections.

Senator Mary Landrieu will face two Republican contenders:  retired Air Force colonel Rob Maness and U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy.

Landrieu is expected to face a tough battle:

“She’s never had to face the voters after supporting President Barack Obama 95 percent of the time,” Short happily adds. “It’s going to be the central theme in this race.”

With Obama's public approval ratings in the abyss beneath the bottom cellar, that can't be encouraging for Landrieu.

Read more here.

H/T:  The Dead Pelican

Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington Holds His Ground Against the DOJ

Christianity is under attack in Bossier Parish by the DOJ.

Via Amanda Crane at Bossier Press Tribune:

The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office has been denied federal funding for its mention of God and use of religion in the Young Marines and Youth Diversion programs.
Sheriff Julian Whittington received notice that funding would be restored only if he signed a letter “pledging that no prayer or mention of God would be allowed” in the programs. However, Whittington said he is appalled by the government’s decision and refused to sign the letter, forgoing the $15,000 grant award.

Be sure to read the whole story.

Sheriff Whittington is standing his ground and says the program will continue with or without the government's support.

This issue came about, in part, because the Young Marines Program has been such a success in reforming troubled kids.  Because the program was so successful, local judges began ordering troubled kids to the Young Marines Program rather than sending them to jail.  Because the YM was never intended as a "diversion program," the Louisiana Law Enforcement Commission, who partially funds the program through a grant, suggested that the Sheriff's office establish a new diversion program for court-ordered juveniles.

In December 2012, the Sheriff's office submitted their grant proposal for the Young Marines funding and in response was told that the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, would not fund the program as long as God or prayer was allowed, even if that prayer was voluntary.

When asked to provide a letter saying no mention of God or voluntary prayer would be allowed, Sheriff Whittington refused and withdrew his grant request.

Then, in February 2013, the Sheriff, submitted a request for funding for his Juvenile Justice Delinquency Program and was refused on the same grounds.

So, now the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office has been refused funding for two programs aimed at helping troubled kids just because Sheriff Whittington is standing up for core values, religious freedom, and voluntary prayer.

Shame on the DOJ.

You can read more about the Young Marines program here.

La. State Senator Barrow Peacock proposed a resolution (PDF) asking the Louisiana delegation in Washington for review of this decision, which passed with unanimous approval:

Peacock on Wednesday got unanimous Senate approval of Senate Resolution 192 asking the Washington, D.C. delegation to review the basis for denying funds for the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office Young Marines Program. 

"This program has had prayer that has been led by teens who are in this program, and when it hasn't been led, they had a moment of silence," Peacock said.  "But now they are being told by our federal government, by the Department of Justice, that there can be no prayer activity or they will not fund this program."

Sheriff Whittington sees further implications beyond just the Bossier Young Marines:

The Young Marines Obligation states, “From this day forward, I sincerely promise, I will set an example for all other youth to follow and I shall never do anything that would bring disgrace or dishonor upon God, my Country and its flag, my parents, myself or the Young Marines. These I will honor and respect in a manner that will reflect credit upon them and myself. Semper Fidelis." 

When it comes down to it, though, Whittington said this isn’t a situation that effects just Bossier Parish youth.

“This is an American issue,” he said. “How do they think they can do this? Now you’re telling me that we can’t have voluntary prayer or even mention the word God?”

Sheriff Whittington's concerns about the "bigger picture" can be seen in U.S. Representative John Fleming's report that attacks against Christianity have been occurring at an alarming rate in the U.S. military to the degree that he has offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would guarantee service members the right to practice and express their religious beliefs freely without fear of reprimand.

There has been a little local noise to chip in and help fund Whittington's youth programs but the bigger picture, it seems to me, is a government that is too big.  The Civil Rights Division of the DOJ has no business in a state run program for troubled kids.   They want to put grant money on the table but you have to forsake God to take it.

Kudos and support to Sheriff Whittington of Bossier Parish who vows to find the funds within his own department, and without the feds,  to keep the programs going.


(Photo credit:  The Shreveport Times)

Update:  Thanks to The Dead Pelican for the link!

"She's Kind of a Big Deal..."

Senator Mary Landrieu thinks she is "indispensable":

"Without sounding braggadocios, I'm indispensable in this effort to secure for Louisiana a significant and reliable string of revenue to save our coast," Landrieu, 57, said in an interview. 

She is, of course, referencing her work to save Louisiana's coastline which is important, but she's certainly not the only person to care about, or work for, that.

Senator Landrieu (D) is running for re-election in 2014, after seventeen years in the U.S. Senate.  She has drawn one Republican challenger so far, Rep. Bill Cassidy from Louisiana's sixth congressional district in south-central Louisiana.

Rep. John Fleming has opted out of a challenge saying that he does not want to splinter

Republican support for Rep. Cassidy.

While Senator Landrieu has indeed supported the Keystone pipeline, her voting record is otherwise abysmally liberal.  "Louisiana Purchase Mary" voted FOR Obamacare, FOR the 2009 stimulus bill, AGAINST the repeal of Obamacare,  She has voted FOR gun-control measures and FOR online sales taxes.

While nobody is really "indispensable," Senator Landrieu does seem to think she's "kind of a big deal."

Senator Landrieu might think she's indispensable, but I think it's time she learned that someone else can do her job and better represent Louisiana's values.  Rep. Cassidy's voting record to date is here.  SIGIS will be posting more about Rep. Cassidy's record and accomplishments.

Donate to Rep. Bill Cassidy's campaign and sign up to help.  His website is here.  His Facebook is here.

(H/T:  United Liberty)

Taking a Step Back from the Compass Evaluation System

Good news for Louisiana educators!

Via NOLA:

The House Education committee passed a bill Wednesday to delay implementation of a key part of Compass, the controversial teacher evaluation tool, for one year. While teachers will still be graded using the tool, the bill prohibits the termination of teachers rated "ineffective" under the Compass rating system until next year. 

The Compass evaluation system has been highly controversial from the beginning.  It was never fully thought out and the bugs were not worked out before it was implemented.  As a result it has been tweaked, changed, and altered throughout this first year.  When careers are on the line (and lawyers likely waiting at bay), it seems makes much more sense to let this first year be a "beta" year, or test year for the system.

Just to give you an idea, this is just a part of the computation formula in grading both teachers and schools:

You see the problem.

Louisiana Educator is giddy over the news, and contends that Compass will remain deeply flawed:

I want to repeat my opinion that the VAM can never be "fixed" because it is based on the incorrect assumption that each teacher's performance is the major determinant of a student's test scores. A few of the opponents of the bill actually repeated the false assertion that the teacher is the major factor in student performance, but most of the committee members are now too well informed to believe this typical reformer rhetoric.

Be sure to check out the "insider stories" on the negotiations at Louisiana Educator, as well.

Education will always be a collaborative effort between the teacher and the parent.  The politicians and reformers can put in place any evaluation system they want to but until parents become involved in the child's education, nothing will change.  The biggest problem with Compass was not that the formula was complicated or that the implementation instructions and evaluation metrics were confusing and inconsistent, but that there was no accountability placed on the parent or even on the student; everything fell to the teacher.

Time to take another look.

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)

Will Common Education Standards Nationwide Solve America's Education Problems or Is It Another Obama Power Grab?

There is growing concern over the federalization of the nation's education systems.  Louisiana is set to implement the Common Core standards in 2014-2015 which has prompted me, as an educator, to bury myself in dozens of articles, studies, and reports on the issue.

There are two issues of concern:  the first is the intrusion of the federal government into what most agree should be a state issue.  The other issue is whether or not Common Core Standards will work at all.

Is Common Core Legal?

Start with the first issue:  is CCSSI (Common Core State Standards Initiative) treading in unconstitutional waters?  Is this initiative really a power grab and nationalization of education policy?

The initiative was developed by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).  The general idea is to create a national set of educational standards so that kids in every state are all learning the same thing; if a kid moves from Florida to California he will still be studying the same material wherever he goes.  The purpose is theoretically to close achievement gaps between states.  So far, 46 states and the District of Columbia have signed on.  

The holdouts as of this writing are Texas and Alaska.  Virginia and Nebraska decided to join the initiative but not adopt the standards; Minnesota adopted the standards for English but not for math.

All of this ties in to Obama's Race to the Top which is funded by the 2009 stimulus, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The Race to the Top Fund awarded lucrative educational grants based on a point system; to get a lot of points in this system, and to earn grants, states had to adopt Common Core:

While the standards have been touted as “voluntary” by proponents, the Obama Administration’s heavy promotion of the standards—tying Race to the Top dollars to a state’s adoption of the standards, by suggesting that federal Title I money for low-income schools could be tied to their adoption, and, most recently, by making No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers contingent upon a state’s adoption of common standards—makes them anything but “voluntary.”

Quin Hillyer reports on a study by Robert Eitel and Kent Talbert (PDF):

Nonetheless, without statutory authority, the authors explain how the Obama administration has begun issuing “waivers” of expensive federal mandates, along with providing cash grants, in return for adoption of national standards. The administration then defines the national standards in such a way that only one initiative actually fits the definition – namely, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a supposedly voluntary national effort that easily morphs into a form of compulsion.

South Carolina adopted Common Core in July 2010 but Governor Nikki Haley is having second thoughts.  She is now supporting a bill to block implementation of the standards in her state:

“Just as we should not relinquish control of education to the federal government, neither should we cede it to the consensus of other states,”Mrs. Haley wrote in a letter expressing her opposition to Common Core. “I firmly believe that our government and our people should retain as much local control over programs as possible. … Our children deserve swift action and the passage of a clean resolution that will allow our state to reclaim control of and responsibility for educating South Carolinians.”

Cost estimates to implement the program are only part of the concern.  Estimates to put the program in place in Washington state, for example are around $300 million.

At Education Week, Rick Hess restates the law:

Remember, the General Education Provisions Act stipulates (in SEC. 438. ø20 U.S.C. 1232a), "No provision of any applicable program shall be construed to authorize any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system, or over the selection of library resources, textbooks, or other printed or published instructional materials by any educational institution or school system." Common Core skeptics like Cato's Neal McCluskey and the Hoover Institution's Bill Evers have argued compellingly that rewarding states for adopting the Common Core and funding the consortia to develop Common Core-friendly curricula amounts to "directing" curricula and programs of instruction. 

Also addressing the legality of CCSSI, in a February 2012 report (PDF),  authors Eitel and Talbert conclude:

Unfortunately, in three short years, the present Administration has placed the nation on the road to a national curriculum...The Department has simply paid others to do that which it is forbidden to do. This tactic should not inoculate the Department against the curriculum prohibitions imposed by Congress.

Will Common Core Work?

Well, legal or not, CCSSI is here and ready to roll.  So is it going to be effective?  Will it help raise the nation's education levels?  Will American students be smarter and better off?

Many say no, and not just conservatives. The left-leaning Brookings Institute published a report by Tom Loveless which forsees "little to no impact on student learning."

The state of Massachusetts has taken a step backward by adopting Common Core:

Massachusetts watered down its current standards by adopting the Common Core, and students across the country will be affected by what some content matter experts have decried as the low quality of the standards . For example, Ze’ev Wurman, a former official in the U.S. Department of Education, also notes that the standards don’t expect Algebra I to be taught in eighth grade “reversing the most significant change in mathematics education in America in the last decade.” 

One of the conclusions reached by the Brookings Study is that common standards will only affect variation between states but not necessarily raise scores.  Within each state there are wide disparities and gaps in student assessment - within a single city, even.  Why is that, given that each state uses a unified curriculum throughout the state?  If common standards were the answer, wouldn't every child in any given state achieve at the same level?

Molly Bloom is equally skeptical:

But the Common Core won’t fix everything that’s “wrong” with American schools. 

The Common Core is just a set of expectations about what students should learn and be able to do. That’s it. 

It doesn’t include new state funding for schools. It doesn’t include better training for teachers. It doesn’t necessarily mean that a Kentucky high school graduate will be at the same level as an Ohio graduate. And it doesn’t come with wrap-around social services for students and families.

I've compared the current Louisiana standards and they seem, to my eye, much better and more specific than the Common Core standards for the same grade.  Common Core leans more toward technical and non-fiction writing and less to the literature side but as far as specific goals and objectives the Louisiana standards seem much more clear to me.  And as mentioned above, states like Massachusetts which already have excellent standards are adopting standards with CC that are inferior to the ones currently in place.

In this election year it is sure to be an issue that will come up, especially if governors like Nikki Haley begin pushing back on the plan or withdrawing from the initiative.

Conclusions:

It's clear that education in America needs improvement but for my buck, I say leave it at the state level as it was intended (and is legally directed).  Federal interference in local education has seldom worked (see No Child Left Behind) and has created more problems than solutions.  What is needed are good, motivated, well trained teachers and adequate resources.

What good are Common Core State Standards when a kid is in a crumbling school with little technology and an out of date library or other resources?  (No, I'm not referring to my school - there are plenty of inner city schools across America that lack proper resources).

Governors across the country should revisit the idea of CCSS.  Both Texas and Alaska have resisted Common Core:

On May 31, 2009, then-Gov. Palin announced Alaska would adopt a "watch and wait" attitude: 

"If this initiative produces useful results, Alaska will remain free to incorporate them," Gov. Palin said, adding that "high expectations are not always created by new, mandated federal standards written on paper. They are created in the home, the community and the classroom." 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, to his credit, was the next to recognize a federal boondoggle when he saw one: "I will not commit Texas taxpayers to unfunded federal obligations or to the adoption of unproven, cost-prohibitive national standards and tests," Gov. Perry wrote in a Jan. 13, 2010, letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Other states should do the same.

Further reading:
Sarah Palin Was a Prophet About Obama's Education Takeover
The Road to a National Curriculum
How Well are American Students Learning?
National Curriculum Plan May Face Challenge
Conservatives Oppose National Standards
School Standards Pushback