Stelly plan: told ya so

The chickens come home to roost. As has been pointed out umpteen times by EdLog, Governor Jindal and the legislature drove the ship of state into disastrous straits by undoing the Stelly tax reforms of 2002.

We now know that one victim of the tax cut fever that swept Baton Rouge in the past few years is our flagship university, which is about to be downsized to a dinghy.

As reported here by LSU Reveille reporter Xerxes A. Wilson, some 25,000 people have signed a petition "demanding state tax reform and constitutional change."

English instructor Tania Nyman told a rally over the weekend, “Gov. Jindal claims we must suffer this devastation as we tighten our belts in these tough economic times. But we know these cuts are not a result of the downturn in the economy. We know these cuts are a result of the governor and legislature’s decision to repeal tax reforms the people of Louisiana voted for almost 10 years ago.”

Some 400 non-tenured instructors at LSU have received termination letters, mirroring similar cuts at other state colleges and universities. Programs and even whole departments are on the line, at the same time that our so-called "leaders" hypocritically claim that education is Louisiana's hope for a better future.