Post Mardi Gras wrapup

As hard as it is to believe in Louisiana, things other than SuperBowl and Mardi Gras have happened in the past few days.

Here are a couple of things we might have missed during the celebrations:

BESE member resigns, is replaced

BESE member Tammie McDaniel of Oak Ridge - one of Gov. Jindal's appointees - resigned from the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. One of Gov. Bobby Jindal's three appointees, she made news last summer when the governor asked her to resign from the board after she questioned Recovery District spending in New Orleans.

News-Star reporter Barbara Leader has the story in this article, in which McDaniel says she is leaving the board because she doesn't like all the federal intrusion into state education issues.

In McDaniel's place, Jindal has appointed Connie Bradford of Ruston to the board. She is the Head of School at Cedar Creek School, a private academy, in Ruston.

Jindal proposes no-growth education budget

Governor Bobby Jindal plans to spend no more on public education next year than this one, according to this article by Advocate reporter Will Sentell.

That means the usual 2.75% growth factor, which used to be an automatic add-on to the Minimum Foundation Program, will be absent for the second year in a row. Jindal's announcement is not the last word on the subject. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is charged with writing the formula that distributes state money to local school districts, and the legislature has the responsibility to fund it.

News-Star editorial: Tell us more about "red tape reduction"

Northeast Louisiana's most influential newspaper is questioning Gov. Bobby Jindal's proposed education agenda for the upcoming session. The News-Star has an editorial asking for more specific information about the proposal.

LFT has already noted that the stated purpose of the Red Tape Reduction Act will do little to ease the paperwork burden on teachers.

The governor sounded rather specific at his press conference. But as the News-Star points out, the governor "served up platitudes and truisms and the promise of a bill in the next legislative session." But no bill has been produced for review.

The editorial says that supporters of the governor's "plan" should "ask if all stakeholders in public education — BESE, school boards, teachers, parents — will get a say in the bill's development."

That would be the responsible way to reform public education. Let's see if it's on the governor's agenda.