Treachery, contempt and the House Retirement Committee

Treacherous is just one of the words describing the actions of the House Retirement Committee on Wednesday. The committee’s utter contempt for the people of the state and the rule of law is surpassed only by its craven submission to the will of Governor Bobby Jindal.

Not that all members were compliant when a bill’s intent was completely transformed so the governor could get his way and merge the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana and the Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System.

Democrats on the committee, led by Rep. Sam Jones (D-Franklin) boycotted the vote, leaving only Republican members to do the governor’s bidding.

Here are the sordid details.

The committee was slated to hear SB 6 by Sen. Elbert Guillory (D-Opelousas), an innocuous bill calling for an annual report to the school employees’ retirement system on privatized jobs.

But as has happened too often this session, the bill was hijacked by a surprise, 47-page amendment crafted by the governor’s office. The new language resurrected the system merger, which was originally contained in HB 1198 by Rep. Kevin Pearson (R-Slidell).

HB 1198 was approved by the Retirement Committee, but has languished on the House calendar for lack of enough votes to guarantee its passage.

House rules say that substantive amendments must be submitted 48 hours in advance of the meeting. But Rep Pearson, who chairs the panel, ruled that the amendment was not new information to the committee, and allowed it to be considered.

Reaction to the maneuver was immediate and explosive. Calling the move a “farce,” Rep. Jones walked out of the meeting. Without a quorum present, Rep. Pearson recessed the meeting to round up enough allies to pass the bill. When the panel reconvened, Democratic members stayed away, leaving only Republican lawmakers present to approve the bill.

“Offensive” was one word LFT Legislative Director Mary-Patricia Wray used to describe the tactic. “I think that the good faith of this Legislature with the citizens of this state has been breached," she said.

The underhanded tactics endorsed by Rep. Pearson and Sen. Guillory meant that teachers and school employees whose retirement will be affected did not have a chance to comment before the committee voted. And because SB 6 had already been approved by the Senate in its original form, the amended version now faces scrutiny only on the House floor.

The merger would abolish LSERS and transfer all its property, rights, obligations and employees into the Teachers’ system. In the process, 30 employees would lose their jobs within a year. That greatly increases the work load on remaining staff, and could cause a reduction in services for the members of the merged systems.

Times-Picayune reporter Jeff Adelson covered the meeting for this story; Marsha Shuler of The Advocate filed this report.

“Red Tape Reduction” bill sails through House of Representatives

Undeterred by the objections of teachers, the House of Representatives approved Gov. Bobby Jindal’s signature education legislation, HB 1368 by Rep. Jane Smith (R-Bossier City), by a 68-20 margin. The fight to stop this misleading and mislabeled bill will now move to the Senate, with its first stop at the Education Committee.

If signed into law, the “Red Tape Reduction and Local Empowerment Waiver Program,” would allow school boards and their superintendents to apply for waivers for virtually all state laws and policies regarding education. The waivers would be granted by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The bill is, according to LFT President Steve Monaghan, the most dangerous piece of legislation facing public education this year. Potential results of the bill could:

• Water down teachers’ tenure protections
• Allow increased class size
• Eliminate teacher salary schedules in favor of “performance based pay”
• Discourage hiring veteran teachers by adopting “student-based budgeting”
• Give principals control over budgets, including salaries, supplies, resources, etc.

Despite heavy pressure from the governor’s office, some members were spirited in their opposition to the bill. Rep. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) predicted that the bill will cause havoc if it becomes law. Allowing BESE, which is not a law-making body, to decide which laws could be ignored, “is bad public policy,” Edwards said.

Edwards said the legislature is careening toward a “schizophrenic” education policy, in which school superintendents and boards might adopt risky strategies that could “fall on the backs of the teachers.”

Rep. Robert Johnson (D-Marksville) said he fears that in an attempt to make all schools operate more like charter schools, important protections for teachers would be set aside.

Rep. Sam Jones (D-Franklin) noted that no other agencies in the state have been given the authority to grant exemptions from laws passed by the legislature. Rep. Edwards responded that he doubts the plan would pass constitutional muster.

Rep. Herbert Dixon (D-Alexandria) said that as school budgets shrink, the bill will tempt school board to cut instructional services.

“BESE won’t have a problem granting the waivers,” Dixon said. “It is a means by which local school boards can address budget needs.”

“This will hurt parents and children,” Dixon said.