True Blood: A Louisiana story

With all the attention focused on Gov. Jindal’s voucher scheme, one might think the diversion of public education funds to private and religious schools is the most insidious attack imaginable on our schools.


One would be wrong. If anything, the vouchers are a diversion from an even greater threat to public schools and the profession of teaching. Like vouchers, that threat was delivered in Act 2 of 2012, one of the governor’s signature education initiatives.

The act was so big, so bloated with various unrelated schemes, and was rushed through the system with so little scrutiny, that most people didn’t pay much attention to what is now called the Louisiana Course Choice program or LCC.

But on Tuesday morning, a BESE committee approved a $675,000 “professional service” expenditure that will eventually bleed education funds like a vampire on an artery.

The money will purchase an online course registration system for the LCC. It is, to stretch a metaphor, the invitation that a vampire must receive before it is allowed into your house. Once inside, however, the sucking commences without mercy.

As described in the BESE proposal, “LCC is a first-of-its-kind program that will allow K-12 students in Louisiana to take a wide variety of course offerings from ‘non-traditional’ course providers – post-secondary academic institutions, online providers, businesses and business associations and educational entrepreneurs…”

And just who might these non-traditional course providers be? Numerous warnings have been posted, but one of the most recent is this Reuters article by Stephanie Simon.

Speaking to a group of investors, she writes, an education consultant explained how the groundwork has already been laid for the vampires to pounce on public education’s throbbing veins:

“Think about the upcoming rollout of new national academic standards for public schools, he urged the crowd. If they're as rigorous as advertised, a huge number of schools will suddenly look really bad, their students testing way behind in reading and math. They'll want help, quick. And private, for-profit vendors selling lesson plans, educational software and student assessments will be right there to provide it.”

Acrosss the United States, some $500 billion a year is spent on public education. In Louisiana, our Minimum Foundation Program budget is $3.41 billion. The vampires want it.

Simon writes that investors believe “a golden moment has arrived,” and that “investors are pouring private equity and venture capital into scores of companies that aim to profit by taking over broad swaths of public education.”

And no place in the United States has made it easier for the vampires than Louisiana, with its “first-of-a-kind” program that offers up our children on an altar of blood and money.

Simon quotes a private equity investor: "Education is behind healthcare and other sectors that have utilized outsourcing to become more efficient."

The question, one of the vampires asks, is "How do we use technology so that we require fewer highly qualified teachers?"

Louisiana is about to find out.

A disturbance in the force?

Just days after Governor Bobby Jindal was rejected as Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential running mate, the cracks are really starting to show in his signature education reform apparatus. As Darth Vader might say, “There’s a disturbance in the Force.”

That disturbance just might be on display in tomorrow’s meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

There will be background rumblings about the latest embryonic scandals emerging from Jindal’s voucher scheme. They’re not full-fledged yet, but we can assume they will be once all the details emerge and the dollars start flowing to questionable academies.

Like the New Orleans school run by a self-proclaimed apostle and prophet who owns several dozen “non-profit organizations” listed as “Not in good standing” by the Secretary of State. Apostle Leonard Lucas’ City Light Academy will get some $700,000 from the state for his voucher school.

Or the school owner who’s under investigation for FEMA fraud (taking money for “ineligible” post-Katrina and Gustav repairs and submitting “altered documentation”). Dr. Carolyn Treaudo’s Conquering Word Academy is slated to get about $308,000 in voucher funds.

Those are the new ones in addition to the list that already includes schools that “teach” via TVs and DVDs, schools that include instruction about the benefits of the Ku Klux Klan, and schools that proclaim the Loch Ness Monster to be living proof that evolution is false.

BESE members who are not completely under Jindal’s thumb may ask why it is that public school students will have to endure a much tougher curriculum than those who bolt for private and religious schools.

Then there’s the issue of BESE’s apparently illegal walking quorums, reported by Gannett reporter Barbara Leader, and the subject of this Advocate editorial. It seems that in an effort to skirt the state’s open meeting law, BESE members have been conferring by telephone, but only in numbers small enough to avoid a quorum.

And let’s not leave out the postponed evaluation of State Superintendent of Education John White. BESE was supposed to evaluate White this month, but has postponed the critique until January. Nothing to see here, says Board President Penny Dastugue, but you’d better believe tongues are wagging behind the scenes.

But the biggest bombshell at the meetings Tuesday and Wednesday may come if a member asks about the legality of BESE’s lackadaisical approach to the state’s Administrative Procedures Act. That law regulates how an agency like BESE adopts its policies.

The law says that when BESE adopts a new rule, it must first promulgate the rule and publish it in the Louisiana Register, and then allow a 90-day comment period before the rule is finally adopted.

On July 24, BESE adopted new accountability rules for voucher schools, and immediately began treating the rules as if they are in effect.

But the rules won’t be posted in the Louisiana Register until September. A close reading of the law indicates that the 90-day comment period should open then, and the rule should not be finally adopted for about three months after that.

And why wait until September to post the new rule in the Louisiana Register? BESE promulgated the rule in July; certainly it could have been included in the August Register.

What gives? A disturbance in The Force, perhaps?

Public Broadcasting tackles the voucher scheme

Watch Louisiana Public Broadcasting's "Louisiana: The State We're In" segment on Louisiana's school voucher plan. Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan and Public Relations Director Les Landon are featured.

To watch the video, please click here.

Dear Colleague,


On June 4, the 2012 Regular Legislative Session ended as it had begun – in a “chaotic legislative debate.”

Governor Jindal may boast of victory for steamrolling a package of dubious education “reforms” through the legislature, but many now are asking: What was won, and at what cost?

The session left in its wake a sour taste for an orchestrated process and a legacy of lawsuits. The LFT, as promised, filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of both Acts 1 and 2 on June 7. Later, the LAE and the Louisiana School Board Association also filed lawsuits challenging Act 2. All three challenges to Act 2 have been consolidated under the LFT lawsuit.

We understand that elections have consequences. The power to govern rightfully belongs to those who are elected. However, we also believe that campaigns should not be perpetual. When a campaign ends, the responsibility to govern begins. Unfortunately, ideology has trumped policy. Louisiana suffers, our communities suffer, our schools suffer, our teachers suffer, and our children suffer because the campaign season did not end in November, 2011.

Choices were made to vilify teachers. Choices were made to frame public schools as failures. Choices were made to blame the unions, the school boards, and/or anyone who dared question the governor’s agenda.

To read more, please click here.

LFT statement on demands made of voucher schools

We understand that letters have been sent to schools that will accept vouchers. The letters demand that schools sign a statement saying that they will not take voucher money from the state. Unless the schools agree, the letter says, litigation will be instituted against them.

This action was not taken by the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, and is not part of the consolidated lawsuit filed by the LFT and others.

LFT believes that Governor Jindal’s voucher scheme is unconstitutional and that it will damage the educational opportunities for the vast majority of Louisiana’s children. That is why we filed suit to halt the voucher program.

Our legal challenge is aimed at the State of Louisiana and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for approving a blatantly illegal and harmful program. It is not a fight with the private and religious schools that believe they are acting in good faith by accepting the money offered by the state.

To be clear, 19th Judicial District Judge Tim Kelly was asked at a recent hearing what recourse the state would have if, after schools begin accepting voucher funds, the law is ruled unconstitutional. Judge Kelly said at the time that suits could be filed to recover the funds.

It is not the intention of the LFT to cause any harm to private and religious schools. It is a shame that Gov. Jindal, the legislature and BESE have created a situation that may wind up disrupting the education of children in our state and causing distress for the private and religious schools that were drawn into their scheme.

Standing for Astroturf

Astroturf organizations get their name from the artificial grass used in athletic stadiums. While pretending to be authentic, grassroots movements, they are really cover groups for wealthy corporations and individuals that want to appear as if they have the public interest at heart.

At first blush, Stand for Children Louisiana would appear to fit that definition. After all, it shilled for all of Gov. Jindal's anti-public education schemes during the last legislative session, and its executive director is a former high-ranking official of the Jindal administration's education department.

This letter to the Advocate editor, from a Stand for Children functionary, would seem to reinforce the suspicion that Stand for Children is little more than a front for the big business interests looking to drain public education's resources. Why else would he "commend" the state education board for the devastation being visited on our schools?

And while the evidence certainly points to the subversion of Stand for Children by the governor and his ilk, it is instructional to note that it was not always so.

As this blog entry from Parents Across America documents, Stand for Children was originally the product of a pro-public education rally organized by child advocate Marian Wright Edelman's son, Jonah. It was nurtured in Oregon, "fighting...for early childhood education, foster care, child abuse prevention and a variety of other programs centered on children."

Unfortunately, writes one of Stand for Children's early members, SFC has changed: "SFC now has private equity investors and venture philanthropists on the board, making decisions for the organization as it grows new chapters. And, grow they will, as they have announced the need to hire a National Expansion Manager, having raised over a million dollars in funding from the Walton Foundation, and over three million dollars from the Gates Foundation."

"When I joined," writes SFC member Susan Barrett,  "SFC fought for more school funding and endorsed pro-education candidates for elective office. Our elementary school parents were passionate about lowering class sizes and enhancing our crumbling school facilities. A “grassroots” organization like SFC was the perfect fit for parents like me who wanted to work on these issues."

But then, she says, things changed at Oregon's Stand for Children chapter. The organization brought in high-priced consultants and outsiders who urged support for corporate, hedge-fund driven "reforms."

Suddenly, Oregon's Stand for Children chapter began pushing the state legislature for charter schools, online learning, and tax rebates that only make sense "when you see...how billionaire philanthropists like Bill Gates and the Walton Family Foundation are now funding and driving the organization’s agenda."

If it's sounding like what happened in Louisiana,  you're right - Barrett even started hearing terms like "defenders of the status quo" tossed around.

So it is probably safe to characterize Stand for Children Louisiana as an astroturf organization. Maybe it wasn't always so, but the corrupting influence of money has tainted whatever good could come out of the organization in our state.

The Advocate questions "chaotic" session

Following last week's meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, The Advocate posted an editorial about the state's "chaotic" approach to public education.


Because of the way Gov. Bobby Jindal steamrolled his radical education agenda through the legislature, The Advocate says, members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are just now finding out what was in it.

It's hard to believe that in toto - surely some of the governor's confidantes on BESE knew exactly which of the little brown lumps in his bills were not chocolate drops.

But let's concede that most BESE members did not know the governor has removed certification as a requirement for teaching in charter schools. Most members of the legislature probably didn't know about it, either.

There is, in fact, a lot about the governor's agenda that most people do not know. It seems to have been one of the governor's goals to make sure his bills were adopted without close scrutiny.

That is the point of a letter that LFT President Steve Monaghan wrote to The Advocate's editor. Many different ideas were crammed into the governor's two main bills, and they were rushed through the legislative process at lightning speed.

"There was no time and little interest to properly debate even one of the issues," Monaghan wrote, "much less the confusing bundle that faced lawmakers. By deliberately loading these bills with multiple objectives, it was guaranteed that none of them would receive the scrutiny or understanding required."

The new certification rule is just one of the very bad ideas that slipped passed a legislature all too willing to do whatever Jindal demanded. Others will be coming to light and hurting our schools and our children for years to come.

That is, unless the lawsuits filed by the LFT and others succeed.

"It is a shame that many of those entrusted with upholding our constitution and the rule of law have yet to realize how shabbily they have treated both," Monaghan wrote.

CABL splits hairs on education "reform"

Back when the Council for a Better Louisiana was a serious good-government watchdog, it would have gone after Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Louisiana Legislature hammer and tong over this session's egregious flaunting of the State Constitution.

Instead, CABL President Barry Erwin chose in this Shreveport Times op-ed to split hairs between the intent of LFT lawsuits challenging Governor Jindal's radical assault on public education and the value of the so-called reforms themselves.

The column breezily asserts that "the policies (in the new laws) are sound...Louisiana will have a strong new set of tools to help increase educational opportunities."

But as LFT President Steve Monaghan demonstrated in this response to the CABLE column, those assertions were left untested because of the brazen power play by which Gov. Jindal and his allies - including CABL - muscled the laws through the legislature.

"No open, honest debate of important public policy was allowed," Monaghan wrote. "The 2012 Legislative Session was an expression of, and a lesson on, raw political power."

It was an up or down, for us or against us, utterly unserious exercise that cheated our children and our schools of the policy discussions that public education deserves.

And that begs the question. If the governor behind this year's education bills had been named Edwin Edwards and not Bobby Jindal, would CABL have laid its credibility on the line and pledged blind allegiance as it did?

Magical denial: White defends voucher constitutionality

In today's live chat with the Shreveport Times, Superintendent of Education John White was asked, "What do you plan to do if the voucher program is found unconstitutional?"

In the same state of magical denial that has typified the Jindal administration's approach to the State Constitution, White's only reply is "I don't think that's going to happen because the laws are constitutional."

His wish can only come true if courts are somehow able to completely misconstrue this very plain statement in the Louisiana Constitution: Public education's Minimum Foundation Program formula “shall be used to determine the cost of a minimum foundation program of education in all public elementary and secondary schools as well as to equitably allocate the funds to parish and city school systems."

Note there is no mention of private schools, religious schools, online course providers, home schools or the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Just "public elementary and secondary schools" in "parish and city school systems."

That is not the only constitutional issue at hand in the two lawsuits filed by the Louisiana Federation of Teachers to challenge both Act 1 and Act 2 of the 2012 legislature. In Gov. Jindal's so-called "reforms," the violations of our state's foundational legal document are many and egregious.

Which is why it verges on the pathetic that White continues to disparage efforts to defend the rule of law with statements like this: "I also think it's a shame, frankly, that people want to keep focused on politics and adult issues when families are trying to make a choice for their kids. No matter what a court finds, we're going to do everything we can to ensure parents have options."

Really? Wasn't it the Jindal administration's laser focus on the politics of education that steamrolled this very bad package of bills through the legislature? And aren't privatizing public education and funneling the state treasury into the hands of venture capitalists the adult issues that drive the Jindal agenda?

Perhaps fortunately for White, the Shreveport Times chat session ended before anyone could ask what he meant by the "No matter what a court finds" statement.

Department claims “Louisiana Believes,” but educators are unsure

A new public relations slogan from the state’s Department of Education claims that "Louisiana Believes." However, Louisiana educators don’t seem quite ready to believe that what's being pitched comes close to being "the real thing."

In a press release issued on June 18, Superintendent of Education John White announced that the final version of his public relations effort is the “outcome of meetings with hundreds of educators across the state, who gave feedback” in a series of in-person and virtual meetings.

A survey conducted by the Louisiana Federation of Teachers after Superintendent White’s meetings tells a different story, however. Teachers complained that there were too few meetings held in accessible locations, that they were largely unaware that the events took place and that the concerns of those who attended were largely ignored.

The most significant finding in the survey is that of the teachers who responded, 65 percent remain “very confused” about Governor Bobby Jindal’s education agenda.

LFT launched the survey at the conclusion of Supt. White’s meetings, which included in-person visits to teachers at 11 sites and four virtual, online meetings. Observers estimate the total attendance at the 11 meetings at around 1,300 people.

Of the 211 teachers who responded to the survey, 97 said they attended one of the meetings in locations around the state, and 42 said they participated in one of the virtual, online conferences.

Of the teachers who attended neither type of event, over half said they were not aware of the events. Most of the rest said there was not a meeting in their area.

Supt. White said in his press release that “Louisiana Believes is a plan to empower educators and parents to make changes for their children,” and that “it’s critical that they lead us in developing and implementing the plan.”

That is an objective that was lost on teachers, according to the LFT survey. Of those who attended the town hall conferences, 66 percent found them “unsatisfactory and disappointing,” 44 percent found them “informative but inadequate to the task,” and only four percent said they were “very informative, addressing most or all of my concerns and questions.”

Responses from those attending the virtual, online conferences were similar. Sixty-five percent found them “unsatisfactory and disappointing,” 33 percent found them “informative but inadequate to the task,” and two percent found them “very informative, addressing most or all of my concerns and questions.”

The survey asked teachers to provide longer answers to questions probing their reaction to Supt. White’s presentation. It is apparent from the responses that most teachers don’t believe they were properly informed, much less consulted, as the governor’s plans were developed.

Here are a few sample comments:

• Anytime a tough question was asked of Mr. White, he would take the microphone away from the participant. He was very vague.

• He seemed like a used car sales man manipulating numbers to tell the story he wanted us to believe in.

• Several people asked valid, well-stated questions that weren't truly answered. I felt as though he quickly brushed over the difficult issues and just repeated much of the same jargon that we've been hearing for months.

• It seemed to me that it was just a PR stunt.

• If he was really interested in the input of teachers around the state he would have had these meetings before the Legislative session began, not after the bills had already passed. I fully believe that these meetings were window dressing - to make it look like he and the governor cared what we thought.

A report with many more survey responses is posted online. Please click here to see the full report.

Is the state seizure of schools justified?

Schools in the state-run Recovery School District are no longer improving any faster than schools in other large urban school systems, Advocate reporter Charles Lussiere writes in this column.

That is important because State Superintendent of Education John White and his department have touted RSD's previous growth as "justification for expanding its role in Baton Rouge."

Lussiere notes that between 2007 and 2012, student test scores in New Orleans' RSD schools improved faster than the rest of the state.

But in the last year, East Baton Rouge and Jefferson Parish school districts improved at the same rate as the RSD, and increased proficiency at a greater rate than the rest of the state.

Those facts beg many questions that should be answered before state control is exerted in districts outside New Orleans.

Why did RSD schools show a spurt in the years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city? Did it have as much to do with the changing population of that tragic city as with the imposition of state control over the schools?

Have any studies explained that growth and revealed a path to replicate the success elsewhere?

Why has the growth of proficiency in New Orleans RSD slowed, and why has it increased in Baton Rouge and Jefferson?

The seizure of schools by the state is a radical step. It should not be taken unless all those questions and more can be answered in its favor.

News chain reveals voucher scheme

The Gannett chain of Louisiana newspapers has embarked on an ambitious and timely investigation into Gov. Bobby Jindal's "education reform" efforts, and has already uncovered some surprising and unsettling information.

First out of the box was Monroe News-Star reporter Barbara Leader's story about a school in Ruston that is scheduled to accept 315 voucher students even though the school does not have buildings, teachers, computers or other equipment to handle that many students.

During legislative debate on the state Minimum Foundation Program, which will fund the voucher scheme, the Ruston school became a symbol for what was wrong with the governor's plan.

Leader followed up with a report on Superintendent of Education John White's testy confrontation with a Senate committee, in which "he said the approvals were preliminary and the department will now begin its 'due diligence' process to ascertain if schools involved in the program could accommodate the number of students they said they would accept."

 But the school in question was already on the state's list of schools approved for vouchers.

Following Leader's report on the Ruston school, Alexandria Daily Town Talk reporter Jeff Matthews filed this story about about the comparatively few voucher slots available in North and Central Louisiana - most voucher schools are clustered in the southeast part of the state.

An interesting synergy erupted when reporters from two other members of the Gannett chain in Louisiana - the Shreveport Times and Lafayette Daily Advertiser - joined in the effort to understand the implications of the governor's agenda.

In this video, Leader is joined by Mary Wood and Icess Fernandez of The Times and Nicholas Persac of the Advertiser, and they discuss their series of articles called "Follow the money to Louisiana education reforms."

Woods' first article was published on May 27. The second article in the series, published June 2, documents the role played by the shadowy American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in shaping the Jindal agenda.

The story reveals that the program our governor claims as his own is really part of a scheme being played out in states across the nation. The goal is to privatize public education and divert billions of dollars into the pockets of venture capitalists masquerading as educators.

We're looking forward to coming installments of the Gannett series, which is sure to win some very prestigious journalism awards.

Voucher vote "the fruit of a poisoned tree"

(Baton Rouge - June 4, 2012) Calling today’s vote by the House of Representatives to fund Gov. Bobby Jindal’s education agenda “the fruit of a poisoned tree,” Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan said the next stage for this sad saga will be in Louisiana courtrooms.

“From the first day that this sorry scheme was introduced until today’s outrageous and tainted vote, the constitution and the rule of law have been recklessly disregarded,” Monaghan said.

By an extremely narrow 51-49 margin, the House voted to concur on a proposed $3.4 billion Minimum Foundation Program budget. In prior years, the MFP constitutionally and correctly funded public elementary and secondary schools.

But this year’s formula redefines public education to include private and religious schools, virtual online schools, corporate and industry providers, and even higher education institutions.

“Had the law been respected,” Monaghan said, “SCR 99 would have never contradicted the constitution or its stated purpose. And, having done just that, it should have failed today."

Before the vote was taken, Speaker of the House Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles) announced that SCR 99 would prevail if it received the votes of a majority of those present, even though the constitution stipulates that 53 votes would be necessary.

To the consternation of most in the chamber, Speaker Kleckley dismissed complaints by saying that the House has “a long history” of violating the constitution.

“That is just one more outrage added to the list of reasons why these issues will head to court,” Monaghan said.

During debate on the House floor, no member took the stand to defend the resolution except for Rep. Steve Carter (R-Baton Rouge), who chairs the House Education Committee. From the back of the room, however, Gov. Jindal’s lobbyists relentlessly twisted arms to eke out the narrow margin by which the resolution passed.

Representatives of both parties took the microphone to denounce the proposed MFP.

A defining issue in the debate was the plan to send as much as $8,500 per pupil to religious schools. Those included an Islamic school in Jefferson Parish and several religious schools around the state which have not been fully vetted, lack certified teachers and appropriate equipment, and have no track record of student achievement.

Rep. Sam Jones (D-Franklin) said that he supports religious freedom, but that giving taxpayer money to religious schools resembles a “European model” that led to generations of violent conflict over differences in beliefs.

The closeness of the final vote reflected a deep-seated unease in many members of the House, Monaghan said. In past years, opposition to the formula has been reflected in single-digit votes. For 49 members to stand against the governor’s wishes is unprecedented, he said.

Arbitrator slams Jefferson School Board for layoffs

In a sharply worded decision, an arbitrator ruled yesterday that the Jefferson Parish School Board wrongly fired 50 teachers based solely on one performance evaluation, while claiming that it was instead a reduction-in-force layoff.

Arbitrator James Sherman minced no words in his May 28 ruling that the Board “cynically and improperly” mislabeled the discharges, based on a single sub-optimal performance appraisal, as layoffs. “They did not get what they were entitled to…Instead, they got the shaft,” Sherman wrote.

He went on to say, “You can call it a layoff, but if it looks like a discharge, walks like a discharge and quacks like a discharge, then it is not a layoff. It is a discharge. These were not layoffs. They were discharges for unproven causes.”

Jefferson Federation of Teachers President Meladie Munch said, “The Jefferson Parish School Board should be collaborating with teachers.  With few exceptions, the best teachers are made, not born. That’s why we need an ongoing professional development program, closely aligned with teacher evaluation and due process, to improve teacher quality.”

Munch said that the arbitrator, in his strong condemnation of the Board, seemed to agree that it was an outrageous misuse of the evaluation system.  Sherman wrote, “The Board transformed the evaluation program into a disciplinary railroad.” 

“I have never seen a ruling that is so vivid and pointed towards a school board. This ruling validates our long-held complaint that the Board has been making bad decisions for students and teachers,” Munch said.

Munch went on to say that the Board is making not just bad decisions, but illegal ones.  This is the second time in two months that the actions of Jefferson Parish School board have been overturned and rejected.  Just last month, the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the school district illegally imposed a furlough day on school employees. 

“We’ve been out in the community talking with parents, business owners, and community groups and listening to their concerns.  We’ve been working toward finding solutions to make schools better,” said Munch. 

However, she continued, “We’ve also been hearing from people that they are concerned with the Board’s bad decisions.  This is another one. They took this callous, illegal act and it impacted numerous employees and families in our parish.  The new board is acting recklessly, irresponsibly and without regard for the law.  And the community is supposed to trust these people to decide what is best for our students and teachers?”

You might not be a public school if...

Education curmudgeon Diane Ravitch has a new post online in which she asks the question, "Are charter schools public schools?"

After an introduction in which she gives Albert Shanker, the late president of the American Federation of Teachers, credit as a founder of the charter school movement, Ravitch questions the direction that charter schools have taken.

Shanker, she says, thought "that charter schools should be created by teams of teachers who would explore new ways to reach unmotivated students. He envisioned charter schools as self-governing, as schools that encouraged faculty decision making and participatory governance...He never thought of charters as non-union schools where teachers would work 70-hour weeks and be subject to dismissal based on the scores of their students."

Ravitch says that the vision of Shanker and others has been corrupted by charter schools run by "for-profit corporations or by nonprofit corporations with private boards of directors...Most charters are non-union and rely on young teachers who work long hours and leave after a few years, thus keeping costs low."

While charter schools are ostensibly public, Ravitch wonders if  the corporate model followed by so many schools is in keeping with the spirit of public education.

So with apologies to comedian Jeff Foxworthy, here are some indications that some charter schools might not really be public schools if...

Charter schools might not be public schools if...a non-profit charter holder subcontracts operation of the school to a for-profit corporation, it might not be a public school.

Charter schools might not be public schools if..."a charter sponsor is involved in complicated real-estate transactions that profit the sponsor," it might not be a public school.

Charter schools might not be public schools if...courts can rule that a charter school is not a public school when it comes to protecting the rights of teachers and other employees, it might not be a public school.

Charter schools might not be public schools if..."a privileged group of schools called charters...can select their students and exclude the ones that are hardest to educate; and the remaining schools are composed of students who couldn't get into the charters or got kicked out" they might not be public schools.

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.

Sneak attack revives assault on sick leave

Last week the House Education Committee voted down a bill that would have decimated extended sick leave, and that should have been the end of it.

So nobody saw it coming when the Senate Education Committee quietly switched the intent of one bill to include language even more offensive than the bill defeated on the House side.

At less than two pages long, SB 494 by Sen. Conrad Appel (R-Metairie) was a minor bill intended “to assist local public school systems in developing methods for selecting certain teachers.”

But when it was heard by the committee, SB 494 had miraculously and secretly grown from two to 12 pages “relative to teacher selection and the granting of extended sick leave and sabbatical leave for teachers and other school employees.”

As heard by the committee, the bill included all of the language in the sick leave bill killed by the House Education Committee earlier, with one exception: a “shall” was changed to a “may.”

If Sen. Appel’s bill becomes law, it will stipulate that school systems may grant teachers and school employees 45 says of extended sick leave (instead of the 90 now mandated by law) at 50 percent of their salary (instead of the 65% now mandated by law).

There will no longer be any requirement that extended sick leave be provided at all.

The amended version of the bill was not completely secret. Officials of the Jefferson Parish School Board, including the superintendent, were at the meeting to testify in support. Somehow they had information that was kept secret from the rest of the education community.

The bill will be heard on the Senate floor. If it passes there, it must be approved by the House Education Committee. Members of that panel will be reminded that they turned down an almost identical bill just a week ago.

Senator tells retirees: Go on welfare

State employees who can’t make it on the new, stripped-down retirement benefits under consideration in Baton Rouge will just have to apply for food stamps and go on welfare, according to State Senator Elbert Guillory (D-Opelousas).

“We cannot afford to protect people from making bad decisions in their lives,” said Sen. Guillory about a bill that eliminates state pensions in favor of a market-driven “cash balance” retirement plan for newly hired state employees.

The Senate voted 23-11 for HB 61 by Rep. Kevin Pearson (R-Slidell), which will affect employees hired on or after July 1, 2013. It will impact the retirement plans of rank-and-file members of the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System and higher education members of the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana. Click here to see how Senators voted on the bill.

Both LASERS and TRSL opposed the bill, and have threatened lawsuits challenging its constitutionality.

Opponents say the bill will have a crushing effect on future retirees, giving them less retirement security than they would have under federal Social Security, which does not apply to public employees in Louisiana.

Under the plan, retirees would contribute eight percent of their salary to the plan, and the state would kick in at least four percent (private employers who pay Social Security must contribute 6.2 percent). Currently, the state’s retirement contribution is over 20 percent of the employee salary.

Money in the plan would be invested by the retirement systems. Employees would be credited with money earned when investments perform well. Unlike 401(k) investments, employees would be protected from actual losses if the market sinks.

When they retire, employees could either convert their balance to an annuity that pays regular amounts over time, or take it in a lump sum. Unlike the state’s current defined benefit retirement systems, which guarantee an income for life, retirees could spend all of the money saved under SB 61.

Because state employees do not have the safety net provided by Social Security, some senators questioned the morality of a plan that could leave retirees destitute if they outlive their savings.

“We cannot afford to protect people from making bad decisions in their lives,” Sen. Guillory said, echoing Ebenezer Scrooge’s famous response when asked for charity at Christmas: “Are there no prisons? And the Union workhouses. Are they still in operation…those who are badly off must go there.”

For more information, read Advocate reporter Marsha Shuler’s account here, and Times-Picayune reporter Jeff Adelson’s story here.

LFT urges rejection of education budget



LFT President Steve Monaghan

 (Baton Rouge – May 10, 2012) The Legislature should reject a proposed $3.4 billion public education budget because it violates the state constitution and could enrich as-yet unidentified private companies at the expense of public schools across the state, Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan said today.

If the Minimum Foundation Program formula proposed by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education goes forward, Monaghan said, it will constitute a radical redefinition of the meaning of public education. The plan would pay for a dramatic expansion of charter schools in the state, and for the first time make tuition for private and religious schools an official part of the education budget.
“This is the worst Minimum Foundation Program ever submitted,” Monaghan told the Senate Education Committee.

In spite of Monaghan’s objection, the committee voted four-to-one to report SCR 99 by Sen. Conrad Appel (R-Metairie) favorably to the full Senate.

To read the rest of the story, please click here.

JFT/PSRP Chair Laura Harper wins national award

Laura Harper, center, with AFT Secretary Treasurer
Lorretta Johnson (left) and PSRP Chair Ruby Newbold.

Laura Harper is a fierce defender of public education who has served for 23 years as Paraprofessional and School Related Personnel Chair of the Jefferson Federation of Teachers. At the recent AFT/PSRP Conference in Washington, D.C. Laura received this year's Albert Shanker Pioneer Award.


Laura was selected "for her willingness to speak out and speak up when confronting injustice," said AFT/PSRP Chair Ruby Newbold, who presented the award. "If you are not doing right by our members, you will hear about it" from Laura.

In accepting the award, Laura cited her role model, Mother Jones, who "used to say 'Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.' I say pray for the school board and fight like hell for the PSRPs!"

To read the rest of this article, please click here.