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.
Showing posts with label Tammie McDaniel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tammie McDaniel. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Monday, July 20, 2009
BESE soap opera continues
In EdLog's last post before going on summer hiatus, we learned that Gov. Bobby Jindal wanted Tammie McDaniel, one of his three appointees to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, to step down. As we return, the drama is still playing out. And it's getting nasty.
The governor gave no reason for his request, other than that he expected all his appointees to conform to his "reform agenda."
To most observers, McDaniel has been a loyal water-carrier for Jindal and scrupulously towed the line for her liege. The only question in any one's mind was whether or not she would accede to Jindal's request. Unlike some gubernatorial appointments, BESE members don't serve at the governor's pleasure. They are approved by the Senate, their terms are concurrent with the governor's, and they don't have to resign when asked. McDaniel can stay through the end of Jindal's current term if she wishes.
McDaniel says she'll stay, thank you very much.
According to this column by AP reporter Melinda Desattte, McDaniel has drawn support from her native Ouachita Parish, where she was a strategist for Jindal's election campaign.
Her colleagues on the BESE board seem to support her decision to stay and question why the governor wants her gone.
That has been the big unanswered question. Philosophically, she seems to be in lockstep with the governor's brand of evangelical conservatism. But she does have an independent streak, and most observers believe that her real nemesis is Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek.
McDaniel has publicly questioned him about insurance payments in New Orleans recovery district schools, among other things connected to the RSD. Her issues, it seems, have not been with Jindal's agenda but with Pastorek's management.
To this point, it certainly seems that McDaniel is the aggrieved party, a conservative educator and supporter of the governor who ran afoul of the powerful and prickly Pastorek. And since Jindal won't go public with his rationale, that has been the story. Until...
Enter Baton Rouge Business Report publisher Rolfe McCollister. Ever ready to do the dirty knife work of big business, McCollister happily shivs McDaniel in this column, a prime example of conservatives turning on their own.
McCollister calls McDaniel in turn a liar, an enemy of reform, strange, rude and an embarrassment. What had been a fairly civil, if unprecedented, disagreement between a governor and his appointee turned nasty.
So now the question is, whose dirty knife work is McCollister doing? Was it Jindal or Pastorek who dropped the dime on Tammie McDaniel and called in the assassin? What is the next chapter in this sordid tale of insider intrigue?
The governor gave no reason for his request, other than that he expected all his appointees to conform to his "reform agenda."
To most observers, McDaniel has been a loyal water-carrier for Jindal and scrupulously towed the line for her liege. The only question in any one's mind was whether or not she would accede to Jindal's request. Unlike some gubernatorial appointments, BESE members don't serve at the governor's pleasure. They are approved by the Senate, their terms are concurrent with the governor's, and they don't have to resign when asked. McDaniel can stay through the end of Jindal's current term if she wishes.
McDaniel says she'll stay, thank you very much.
According to this column by AP reporter Melinda Desattte, McDaniel has drawn support from her native Ouachita Parish, where she was a strategist for Jindal's election campaign.
Her colleagues on the BESE board seem to support her decision to stay and question why the governor wants her gone.
That has been the big unanswered question. Philosophically, she seems to be in lockstep with the governor's brand of evangelical conservatism. But she does have an independent streak, and most observers believe that her real nemesis is Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek.
McDaniel has publicly questioned him about insurance payments in New Orleans recovery district schools, among other things connected to the RSD. Her issues, it seems, have not been with Jindal's agenda but with Pastorek's management.
To this point, it certainly seems that McDaniel is the aggrieved party, a conservative educator and supporter of the governor who ran afoul of the powerful and prickly Pastorek. And since Jindal won't go public with his rationale, that has been the story. Until...
Enter Baton Rouge Business Report publisher Rolfe McCollister. Ever ready to do the dirty knife work of big business, McCollister happily shivs McDaniel in this column, a prime example of conservatives turning on their own.
McCollister calls McDaniel in turn a liar, an enemy of reform, strange, rude and an embarrassment. What had been a fairly civil, if unprecedented, disagreement between a governor and his appointee turned nasty.
So now the question is, whose dirty knife work is McCollister doing? Was it Jindal or Pastorek who dropped the dime on Tammie McDaniel and called in the assassin? What is the next chapter in this sordid tale of insider intrigue?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Jindal boots booster from BESE
Governor Bobby Jindal couldn't have asked for a more loyal appointee than Monroe's Tammie McDaniel on the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She was one of his top strategists during the governor's election campaign, and as a BESE member she has towed the administration line admirably.
One of three gubernatorial appointees to BESE, McDaniel has been a consistent vote to guarantee that the governor gets what he wants out of the state's highest education board.
But McDaniel apparently has an ethical streak which caused her to question the millions of dollars being spent for insurance in state Recovery School District schools in New Orleans.
According to this story by Gannett reporter Mike Hasten, that put her at odds with Jindal's man in the Claiborne Building, Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek. The superintendent was not please with McDaniel's observation that RSD, like all other school systems in the state, has money from local and federal sources to pay for the insurance.
As Hasten delicately put it in his article, "...Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, who is close to the governor, is often protective of the RSD and considers its success a priority."
If Pastorek is behind Jindal's move against McDaniel, he may not be serving the governor well. The article includes numerous comments from North Louisiana lawmakers in support if McDaniel. Some are urging him to rescind his request that she resign.
And then there are the comments that follow the article, which at this point unanimously support McDaniel. Can the governor afford to alienate this many people in North Louisiana? That part of the state strongly supported his election, and he may need them again in 2011.
One of three gubernatorial appointees to BESE, McDaniel has been a consistent vote to guarantee that the governor gets what he wants out of the state's highest education board.
But McDaniel apparently has an ethical streak which caused her to question the millions of dollars being spent for insurance in state Recovery School District schools in New Orleans.
According to this story by Gannett reporter Mike Hasten, that put her at odds with Jindal's man in the Claiborne Building, Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek. The superintendent was not please with McDaniel's observation that RSD, like all other school systems in the state, has money from local and federal sources to pay for the insurance.
As Hasten delicately put it in his article, "...Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek, who is close to the governor, is often protective of the RSD and considers its success a priority."
If Pastorek is behind Jindal's move against McDaniel, he may not be serving the governor well. The article includes numerous comments from North Louisiana lawmakers in support if McDaniel. Some are urging him to rescind his request that she resign.
And then there are the comments that follow the article, which at this point unanimously support McDaniel. Can the governor afford to alienate this many people in North Louisiana? That part of the state strongly supported his election, and he may need them again in 2011.
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