A Response to Blueprint Louisiana
By Dayne Sherman
Column4/22/13 - Words: 600
Published in the Daily Star
Jimmy Maurin’s recent letter, “Legislators should re-enactschool reforms,” says Gov. Bobby Jindal’s education “reforms” were bold, his
education plans great for Louisiana, and legislators need to redo what the
courts, educators, and public opinion have labeled a failure.
Maurin is a successful Hammond
businessman, the head of Stirling Properties, which owns Hammond Square Mall.
He’s also the Chairman of Blueprint Louisiana,
a Bayou State equivalent to the AmericanLegislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
If Blueprint members truly cared about improving Louisiana education
outcomes instead of privatizing, they would scrap Jindal’s unconstitutional
education reforms and start over. We have been there and done that. It’s time
to move on.
Rather than doubling down on “The Stupid Party,” Blueprint
should push for several changes that would make a positive difference to Louisiana education.
First, class size is the biggest change needed. Cap class
sizes at 15 for struggling schools and 20 for schools on solid footing. We’ll
see major improvements overnight with this needed change.
Second, disband the so-called education reformers’ model
school system, the failed Recovery
School District. It’s the
second worst district in Louisiana,
and one of the worst school districts in the developed world. It is full of
fiscal mismanagement and abuse. The RSD has lost millions of dollars, according
to recent reports, and it’s doing PR spin and damage control 24/7. Because the
RSD is the model for reform, nothing will be done about the scandalous fraud
and lost tax dollars.
Third, there should be no waivers of credentials for
unqualified superintendents. This practice has been a total flop. Let’s
consider State Superintendent John White. He has been in way over his head
since his first day on the job—after he left as superintendent of the RSD. He
is unqualified to serve as an assistant principal in Tangipahoa Parish. How on
earth can he be allowed to serve as the head of the entire state education
establishment? Let him go back home to New
York and drive a cab.
Fourth, the Louisiana Department of Education has scrubbed
key data from its new website. When White and LDOE claim graduation rates have
improved, it is impossible to verify. This should lead to the termination of
decision-makers.
Last, repeal Jindal’s 2008 creationist education law, the
Louisiana Science Education Act. Seventy-eight Nobel Prize-winning scientists
have signed on asking for its repeal. The LSEA makes Louisiana education a 19th century model
instead of a 21st century learning environment. Bottom line, the LSEA kills
jobs. Let’s get rid of it.
Much of so-called education reform is nothing but a ruse
intended to steal local, state, and federal dollars. Jindalesque reform is unconstitutional,
and legislation passed in 2012 fixed none of the real problems Louisiana schools face.
As business leaders, Maurin and Blueprint know it is
disastrous to make decisions based on bad information. A real fix for what ails
Louisiana is
possible, but Jindal’s reforms were little more than a con job designed to help
his delusional presidential bid.
Blueprint and its cadre of businessmen have hitched their wagon
to our governor’s self-serving vision for Louisiana. Bobby Jindal’s heart is the size of
a butterbean. He’s no one to follow.
It’s about time to unhitch the wagon. Jindal has steered the
state into a deep ditch.
And I have news for Blueprint Louisiana: The common people of this state
have wised up. The country club set should do the same.
Dayne Sherman lives in Ponchatoula and is the author of Welcometo the Fallen Paradise: A Novel. His website is daynesherman.com.
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Dayne
Sherman, Writer, Speaker, ScholarWeb & Social Media: http://daynesherman.com/
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