Mardi Gras catch-up edition

While most of us were catching beads, the rest of the world proceeded as usual these past few days. Here are a few of the things we missed:

Writer says that charter schools are an attack on public education

In a well-sourced article, writer Sarah Knopp builds a case that the charter school movement has become a front for the privatization of public education. She quotes an article by education writer Jonathan Kozol as saying “the education industry represents the largest market opportunity” since health-care services were privatized during the 1970’s....

With citations ranging from Adam Smith to Milton Friedman to AFT's own Al Shanker, she builds the case that the financiers and big thinkers behind the present-day charter movement are the same people who really want vouchers. Charters, she says, are an intermediate step because vouchers are so unpopular.

Knopp throws down the gauntlet with some big statements:

When charters do succeed, it’s because they have lots of extra money. All
schools should have access to these extra funds—especially the ones that need it
most!

Charters choose their students, which decreases the amount of power and due
process that students and parents have. They are more likely to exclude English
language learners and special education students. They pursue a different goal
than fighting for quality education for all.

Schools will be better when teachers are paid more and the profession is
more attractive. Teachers’ unions are a fundamental part of winning this; and
the charter school movement is an attack on these unions.

It's a long article, and there's stuff about New Orleans in it, too. A bracing wake-up call after Fat Tuesday.

Monroe teachers might get back some of the money they were cheated out of

In Monroe, where Mardi Gras isn't such a big deal, the Free Press has an article that begins with this statement: "City teachers may get back half of what the school system cheated them out of last year, but that’s if the governor doesn’t make serious cuts to public education in his budget. "

Monroe Federation President Sandie Lollie told the Free Press that some teachers are owed as much as $2,400 by the board.

Creationism is costing New Orleans tourist dollars

New Orleans CityBusiness reporter Stephen Maloney writes about the money lost to the city's tourism industry because of the law with the misleading moniker "Louisiana Science Education Act."

Scientific organizations are backing away from holding conventions in the Big Easy, saying the creationism-friendly law sends a bad signal to intelligent life everywhere. What's at stake for the city? One convention, which will be held in April because it is too late to change venues, expects to bring $15.2 million to the city. They won't be back again.

Furloughs on the table for LSU faculty

Advocate reporter Jordan Blum quotes LSU Chancellor Michael Martin as saying that he may ask the legislature to approve furloughs and layoffs at the state's flagship university.

Jindal wants to reject federal stimulus funds

Governor Bobby Jindal picked the Friday before Mardi Gras to announce that he will turn down almost $100 million in federal stimulus funds. There's no better time to say something that you don't want people to hear. His announcement did not escape the attention of Times-Picayune capitol bureau chief Robert Travis Scott, who managed to find some state leaders willing to forgo the party long enough to question the governor's judgment.

On Wednesday, lawmakers got it together and called a press conference to criticize Jindal's response to President Obama's address to Congress. While most of Louisiana probably missed the governor's impression of Mr. Rogers, it didn't get past some legislators that, as Advocate reporter Michelle Millhollon put it in this article, the governor is guilty "of allowing his political ambitions to dictate his response to the federal economic package."

Jindal dithers, but stimulus could save higher education

Gov. Bobby Jindal plays Hamlet, wondering whether 'tis nobler to accept nearly $4 billion in stimulus dollars or satisfy his presidential cravings - and those of his party - by rejecting a plan that could mean 50,000 jobs for the state.

Meanwhile, as Times-Picayune reporter Jan Moller notes in this story, the economic recovery package includes $584 million for a "state fiscal stabilization fund," the bulk of which must be spent on education.

That money cannot supplement K-12 education's Minimum Foundation Program because the constitutionally protected fund is already considered stable. It can, however, be spent on colleges and universities.

Since the governor has said he may have to cut higher education spending by between $212 million and $384 million, the stimulus package ought to be considered very good news for our colleges and universities.

But the Republican party is playing the hardest of ball with the recovery package, even to the point of endangering the seat of one of their newest members of Congress. GOP leaders demanded that Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao of New Orleans vote against the act, even though it is wildly popular in his district. As New Orleans CityBusiness editor Greg LaRose reports, a recall petition has already been launched.

And since Jindal is slated to give the GOP response to President Obama's address on Tuesday, it appears that political maneuvering could have a lot to do with his dithering about accepting the recovery act dollars.

How will Jindal handle the stimulus money?

Louisiana is in line to receive some $3.8 billion from the economic stimulus package just adopted by Congress, but how will Governor Bobby Jindal handle the money? After all, Jindal has spoken against the stimulus package and is slated to give the Republican response to President Barack Obama's message to Congress next week.

As Monroe News-Star reporter Stephen Larger writes in this article, "Jindal must reconcile his national image as a small-government conservative and the possibility of an ostensibly free budget bailout courtesy of the federal government."

As a leading future contender for the Republican presidential nomination, Jindal must carefully thread the needle if he wants to accept federal money for his cash-strapped state without offending the small-government, limited-spending base of his party.

Congressman posts Louisiana's gain from recovery act

As the U.S. Senate debates the economic stimulus bill passed by the House of Representatives last week, Congressman Charlie Melancon released a list of investments that could be made in Louisana if the bill passes.

Aware of the concerns of many on the right side of the aisle, Melancon stressed his conservative credentials in releasing the list:

“Like many Louisianians, I was concerned the some of the spending in this bill appears to be for non-emergency purposes, and I worked with the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition to get some of those provisions stripped from the bill. No bill will ever be perfect, but it’s important that we take decisive action to help our economy recover, and the good in this bill far outweighs the bad. The Recovery Plan is a solid combination of targeted investments and tax relief needed to get our economy moving again, and I feel we must support it. ”

Louisana's education portion of the stimulus bill passed by the House includes:

• Aid to high-need schools: $269 million over two years. (Title I funding, click here for district by district breakdown)
• Education for disabled children: $217.5 million over two years. (IDEA funding, click here for district by district breakdown)
• Schools: $383 million for modernization, renovation and repair. (Click here for district by district breakdown)
• Educational technology: $18.5 million.
• College loans: $427 million for Pell grants.