Definition of Jindalized

Jindalized: v. 1. Firing a Louisiana state employee for telling the truth in conflict with the governor’s agenda. 2. Laying off workers for alleged financial reasons and rehiring politically connected persons for twice the previous salary. See also Teagued.



Note: I first heard the word "Jindalized" on April 29, 2010, spoken by Dr. Ed Brown, former dentist, my former graduate school classmate, and Jindalized college history instructor (laid off due to budget cuts from what I understand).

--Dayne Sherman (M.A. degree in English from a Louisiana public university at work.)

Be my guest and pass this on!

EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR ALL LOUISIANA SENATORS

adleyr@legis.la.gov; alarioj@legis.la.gov; allainb@legis.la.gov; amedeej@legis.la.gov; appelc@legis.la.gov; lasen15@legis.la.gov; brownte@legis.la.gov; smithbuffington@legis.la.gov; chabertn@legis.la.gov; claitord@legis.la.gov; cortezp@legis.la.gov; crowea@legis.la.gov; donahuej@legis.la.gov; dorseyy@legis.la.gov; erdeyd@legis.la.gov; gallotr@legis.la.gov; guillorye@legis.la.gov; HeitmeierD@legis.la.gov; johnsr@legis.la.gov; kostelka@legis.la.gov; lafleure@legis.la.gov; longg@legis.la.gov; martinyd@legis.la.gov; millsf@legis.la.gov; morrelljp@legis.la.gov; morrishd@legis.la.gov; murraye@legis.la.gov; neversb@legis.la.gov; peacockb@legis.la.gov; perryj@legis.la.gov; petersonk@legis.la.gov; risern@legis.la.gov; smithgl@legis.la.gov; smithj@legis.la.gov; tarverg@legis.la.gov; thompsof@legis.la.gov; walsworthm@legis.la.gov; wardr@legis.la.gov; whitem@legis.la.gov

EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR ALL LOUISIANA REPRESENTATIVES

abramson@legis.la.gov, adamsb@legis.la.gov, larep021@legis.la.gov, armesj@legis.la.gov,larep102@legis.la.gov, larep100@legis.la.gov,barrast@legis.la.gov, larep029@legis.la.gov, berthelotj@legis.la.gov, billiotr@legis.la.gov,bishops@legis.la.gov, bishopw@legis.la.gov, broadwaterc@legis.la.gov, brossettj@legis.la.gov, browntr@legis.la.gov, burfordr@legis.la.gov, burnsh@legis.la.gov, larep089@legis.la.gov, larep002@legis.la.gov, carmodyt@legis.la.gov, carters@legis.la.gov, champags@legis.la.gov, chaneyb@legis.la.gov, connickp@legis.la.gov, coxk@legis.la.gov, cromerg@legis.la.gov, danahaym@legis.la.gov, dixonh@legis.la.gov, larep052@legis.la.gov, edwardsj@legis.la.gov, larep013@legis.la.gov, foilf@legis.la.gov, franklina@legis.la.gov, gainesr@legis.la.gov, garofalor@legis.la.gov, larep035@legis.la.gov, gisclairj@legis.la.gov, larep066@legis.la.gov, larep041@legis.la.gov, guinnj@legis.la.gov, harrisl@legis.la.gov, harrisoj@legis.la.gov, havardk@legis.la.gov, hazelc@legis.la.gov, henryc@legis.la.gov, hensgensb@legis.la.gov, hilld@legis.la.gov, hodgesv@legis.la.gov, hoffmanf@legis.la.gov, hollisp@legis.la.gov, honored@legis.la.gov, howardf@legis.la.gov, hunterm@legis.la.gov, huvalm@legis.la.gov, jacksong@legis.la.gov, jacksonk@legis.la.gov, jamest@legis.la.gov, jeffersonpo@legis.la.gov, johnsoro@legis.la.gov, joness@legis.la.gov, larep036@legis.la.gov, larep059@legis.la.gov, landryn@legis.la.gov, landryt@legis.la.gov, lebasb@legis.la.gov, legerw@legis.la.gov, leopoldc@legis.la.gov, ligit@legis.la.gov, lopintoj@legis.la.gov, larep094@legis.la.gov, macks@legis.la.gov, millerg@legis.la.gov, montoucj@legis.la.gov, morenoh@legis.la.gov, larep001@legis.la.gov, morrisjc@legis.la.gov, nortonb@legis.la.gov, ortegos@legis.la.gov, pearsonk@legis.la.gov, pierrev@legis.la.gov, pontie@legis.la.gov, poper@legis.la.gov, pricee@legis.la.gov, pughs@legis.la.gov, pylants@legis.la.gov, reynoldsg@legis.la.gov, richardj@legis.la.gov, richardc@legis.la.gov, larep075@legis.la.gov, larep045@legis.la.gov, schexnayderc@legis.la.gov, schrodej@legis.la.gov, seabaugha@legis.la.gov, shadoinr@legis.la.gov, simons@legis.la.gov, smithp@legis.la.gov, larep060@legis.la.gov, talbotk@legis.la.gov, thibautm@legis.la.gov, thierryl@legis.la.gov, thompsonj@legis.la.gov, whitneyl@legis.la.gov, williamsa@legis.la.gov, larep004@legis.la.gov, willmott@legis.la.gov

Update on Retirement in Louisiana

On Wednesday, April 25, 2012, I went to Baton Rouge to attend a meeting on retirement issues sponsored by LSUnited and the Faculty Senate. Two legislators were scheduled to be there but neither man showed up. Not to be deterred, we had a panel talk on the retirement issue. I spoke alongside Dr. Stuart Irvine of LSU and Dr. Michael Walker-Jones of the LAE.

I left the meeting a little miffed. I’d driven all the way from Hammond to BR and took annual leave no less. So, I headed north to the State Capitol. I chased the men down like an old beagle dog searching for a swamp rabbit in a briar patch. I met at length with Sen. Elbert Guillory (Chair of Senate Retirement Committee) and Rep. Kevin Pearson (Chair of House Retirement Committee), the two guys that skipped the meeting at LSU.

Friends, WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS TOWARD SAVING STATE RETIREMENT.

At the Capitol, I met briefly with Rep. Steve Pugh and Rep. Austin Badon, and I talked a little with Rep. Chris Broadwater, even more briefly with Sen. Mack “Bodi” White. I harangued Rep. Pearson until after the doors were locked in the building.

Please contact Guillory and Pearson, as well as others. They’re going through with the vote by Wednesday of next week (May 2nd). I spent about two and a half yours at the Capitol, and it was very profitable. Retirement matters to Louisiana. I’ve a hard-hitting op-ed coming out April 26th in the Houma Courier www.houmatoday.com/) and the Thibodaux Daily Comet (www.dailycomet.com/ ) [not online yet].

My friends, keep at it.

NEWS FLASH – THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER ED TAKES UP THE CAUSE
The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 25, 2012
"Proposed Louisiana Laws Would Change Retirement Benefits to Bail Out State Pension System" - by Audrey Williams June
http://chronicle.com/article/Proposed-Louisiana-Laws-Could/131652/

You may need a password from your college or university to read the entire article. Basically, it says DO NOT come to work in Louisiana if these bills pass.

WEBSITES TO WATCH

Louisiana Budget Project: http://www.labudget.org/lbp/
Louisiana Association of Educators - http://www.lae.org/
Louisiana Federation of Teachers - http://la.aft.org/

If you want to know more about who your representatives are and how to get involved, scroll down to previous blog posts and keep fighting.

Thank you.

Dayne Sherman

State retirement this week

There are many very important issues related to state retirement before the Louisiana Senate this week. In fact, the massive increase in contributions to retirement, the changes in dates related to retirement eligibility, and the ending of traditional retirement programs may be voted on early this week.

I cover this in some detail in my inaugural "Talk About the South" column in the Hammond Sunday Star: "Devil has had the money long enough" http://www.hammondstar.com/articles/2012/04/23/opinion/columnists/8294.txt
(Related numbers:  Rep. Chris Broadwater (985-543-4900), Rep. Steve Pugh (985-386-7844), and Sen. Mack White (225-272-1324).)

Here's a link to my letter in this morning's Advocate. The editor said I hit all of the major issues: http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/2649968-123/letter-jindal-retirement-changes-just

For a take on what happened yesterday at the La. Senate, see veteran journalist Tom Aswell's piece: http://louisianavoice.com/.

To stay informed on retirement issues, I have listed a number of web sources below:

Fight Back Louisiana: https://www.facebook.com/groups/109118642507269/
Pension Fight Club: facebook.com/groups/pension2012/
LA Pension 2012: https://www.facebook.com/pension2012
Louisiana Pension Bulletin Board: http://www.pension2012.org/
Louisiana Voice: http://louisianavoice.com/
CB Forgotston: http://forgotston.com/
Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana: http://www.trsl.org/main/
LASERS: http://www.lasersonline.org/site.php

Get to know why Louisiana is broke, tax breaks for a few, a Legislative Auditor's report. This document helped me understand where the money has gone and one reason we are in a budget crisis. This is an outrage.: http://app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/E9F217C786FEEE56862579B30065B41C/$FILE/0002737B.pdf.

I write this as a Louisiana citizen, not as an employee of any state agency.

Please pass this along.

Thank you.

Dayne Sherman

More than you want to know about Louisiana retirement “reform” and higher education troubles

What’s going on in Louisiana? It seems like the patients are now running the insane asylum. 

Rather than giving you yet another analysis of the current insanity, I will provide a series of articles and websites for you to discover the facts for yourself. If I am missing something important, please contact me.

Louisiana is under attack by two groups, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) (http://www.alec.org/) and Blueprint Louisiana (http://www.blueprintlouisiana.org/). Blueprint Louisiana is our very own ALEC, Jr. They are behind the destruction of pensions in Louisiana. ALEC, Blueprint, and Gov. Bobby Jindal's limitless ambition to become President.

ALEC

ALEC is the major group behind most Louisiana bills:

See my "Talk About the South" column in the Hammond, La. Sunday Star, April 22, 2012: "Devil has had the money long enough" - http://www.hammondstar.com/articles/2012/04/23/opinion/columnists/8294.txt

Articles of note on ALEC:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/us/alec-a-tax-exempt-group-mixes-legislators-and-lobbyists.html

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/13/150528572/as-pressure-mounts-companies-flee-coalition

http://louisianavoice.com/2012/04/11/3488/

http://www.thenation.com/article/161978/alec-exposed

http://alecexposed.org

How do bills get written in Louisiana? You don't actually believe the average legislator could write a bill, do you? Many of them can hardly read the bills they file. http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/2605733-123/our-views-fannins-candor-speaks

Louisiana ALEC chair quit the organization recently. The group has become toxic:

http://www.gregcromer.net/2012/04/17/411/

https://www.facebook.com/RepresentativeCromer

http://louisianavoice.com/2012/04/18/first-it-was-corporations-bailing-out-now-the-parade-of-louisiana-legislators-exiting-alec-membership-begins/

Get to know why Louisiana is so broke. Tax breaks for select companies, a Legislative Auditor's report. Bet a dollar to a doughnut ALEC had some model legislation for this: http://app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/E9F217C786FEEE56862579B30065B41C/$FILE/0002737B.pdf

PENSION “REFORM”

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor issued a 38-page legal analysis that says the pension plans are illegal (Strasburger-Price report): http://app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/8CD9E352857E67EC862579D1007FAF12/$FILE/00028CB2.pdf

Louisiana “pensionomics" article, return on pension dollars:

http://lasersonline.org/uploads/Factsheet_LA_Pensionomics_2012.pdf

Pension Loses--April 20, 2012--Baton Rouge Advocate piece--the brain drain to come:

http://theadvocate.com/home/2618180-125/pension-loss-cited

The bill as it is written exempts school teachers, but not college professors:

http://www.lasersonline.org/ uploads/ SummaryofSubstituteSB51.pdf

A number of proposals cleared the Senate Retirement Committee on April 16, 2012, unanimous votes. Here’s an article on what happened:
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/04/gov_jindals_pension_chages_mov.html

Why the rush? Read the Times Picayune: “Retirement bills are moving through the Louisiana Legislature too fast, critics say”: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/04/critics_say_retirement_bills_m.html

Why now? Gov. Bobby Jindal’s national ambitions. Hear Gov. Jindal’s education “scorecard” for his RNC speech in Tampa this August, a short audio with a Republican Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member (Pensions are a part of the scorecard.), April 9, 2012:
http://forgotston.com/2012/04/10/bese-member-reveals-jindals-motives/

The Louisiana pensions are solvent and are doing far better after the upturn in the stock market. We are not California or Illinois. They are models of solvency, good management, and return on investment. The only major problems we’ve ever had were legislative mismanagement until the mid-1980s and the recent Great Recession.

Latest actuarial report on all pensions (UAL numbers are even better now than when the report was written.): http://app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/0/5ADE068FB8AE2EFF8625798200554BEF/$FILE/000257B7.pdf

All Louisiana actuarial reports: http://www.lla.state.la.us/reports_data/actuaryreports/

Gov. Jindal’s news conference on pensions, January 26, 2012:

http://theadvocate.com/home/1897976-125/jindal-releases-pension-changes.html

STATE EMPLOYEES OF LOUISIANA DO NOT PAY INTO SOCIAL SECURITY. 

READ WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM

There are two provisions of federal law that destroy the possibility of receiving Social Security for almost all state workers in Louisiana:

Windfall Elimination Provision

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10045.html

Government Pension Offset

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10007.html

HIGHER EDUCATION TROUBLES

See the February 9, 2012, press release: “Gov. Jindal: Budget Protects Higher Ed, Transforms K-12 Schools, Reforms Pension System, Expands Health Care Services, Does Not Raise Taxes": http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=3261

Coverage of the issues in one of our major newspapers:

“Colleges Take Another Hit” – Baton Rouge Advocate op-ed - February 19, 2012:
http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/2067754-123/our-views-colleges-take-another.html

"Editorial on Colleges Insightful" – Advocate letter written by Dayne Sherman - February 27, 2012:
http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/2135081-123/letter-editorial-on-colleges-insightful.html

“Please, Mister, Hit Me Again” – Advocate op-ed - February 27, 2012:

http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/2035282-123/our-views-please-mister-hit.html

“LSU Students Counter ‘Gag Order’ on Budget” - Advocate article – March 9, 2012: 
http://theadvocate.com/home/2270799-125/students-counter-gag-order-on.html

“A Slow Leak for Colleges" – Advocate op-ed - March 20, 2012:
http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/2310047-123/our-views-a-slow-leak

American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Report on Higher Education in Louisiana:
http://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/87B69D3C-788E-437A-A613-9B7D5A694DFE/0/ULSystemReportApril2012.pdf

Another view of the AAUP report on Higher Education in Louisiana:
http://ulsystem.edu/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=451

HOW TO KEEP INFORMED

Three Facebook groups are dedicated to state retirement issues:

Fight Back Louisiana: https://www.facebook.com/groups/109118642507269/

Pension Fight Club: facebook.com/groups/pension2012/

LA Pension 2012: https://www.facebook.com/pension2012

Louisiana Pension Bulletin Board: http://www.pension2012.org/

Louisiana Voice: http://louisianavoice.com/

CB Forgotston, “The Mullet Scribe”: http://forgotston.com/

Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana: http://www.trsl.org/main/

LASERS: http://www.lasersonline.org/site.php

My social media outlets:

Facebook - facebook.com/daynesherman

Twitter - Tweet the South - twitter.com/TweettheSouth

Talk About the South Blog - daynesherman.blogspot.com/

Website - daynesherman.com

 

HOW TO CONTACT THE LEGISLATORS

Contact information for Louisiana Senators: http://senate.la.gov/senators/Offices.asp

Contact information for Louisiana State Representatives (House):
http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_FullInfo.asp

The most important people are your two state legislators and the members of the House and Senate Retirement Committees.

Senate Retirement Committee: http://senate.la.gov/Retirement/Assignments.asp

House Retirement Committee: http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Cmtes/H_Cmte_RE.asp

“Who are your state Senators and Representatives?”

http://www.legis.la.gov/ - Go to the bottom of the webpage. Click on the question and type in your address.

Contact information for the Louisiana Governor:

Gov. Bobby Jindal

PO Box 94004

Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004

Phone: 225-342-7015 / 1 866-366-1121 (Toll Free)

Fax: 225-342-7099

E-mail form: http://www.gov.la.gov/index.cfm?md=form&tmp=email_governor

An Open Letter - Louisiana State Retirement Changes

Re: An average guy’s perspective on state retirement changes

Dear Louisiana Citizen:

This coming week the Louisiana Legislature will debate changes to state retirement. Mark Twain was right: “No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the Legislature is in session.”

Often times the voices of common people are drowned out by politicians and the so-called “experts.” I am neither an expert nor a politician. But I am a librarian, a rank-and-file state worker, and I have tried my best to stay informed. I am writing on a matter of public concern.

Below, I have listed some issues to consider as you think through the debate. These are not anyone’s political talking points. Instead, they are my reflections on the proposed changes.

Why I am personally against the proposed retirement changes?

1.) Unconstitutional - Changing the retirement benefits for current employees appears unconstitutional: The 1974 Louisiana Constitution states, “Membership in such a retirement system shall be a contractual relationship between employee and employer, and the state shall guarantee benefits payable to a member or retiree or to his lawful beneficiary upon his death.”  (See report from the LouIsiana Legislative Auditor.)

Huey Long said, “I am the constitution around here now.” Isn’t having one Huey Long in Louisiana history enough? We should follow the constitution.

2.) Massive Tax Increases on Select State Workers - Placing a massive payroll tax increase on state employees is not simply increasing “contributions.” Especially in a time when raises have been withheld for the fourth year in a row, the plan is a crushing tax burden on workers. In many cases, the tax increase will be 37.5 % or more.

(Some people are very confused about the basic mathematics here. See the bills related to this provision. The Advocate got it right on Apr. 4, 2012, "Jindal, other elected officials excluded in pension plan": "The 3 percent translates into a near 40 percent increase for rank-and-file members of LASERS. But not for the governor and other elected officials — their contribution rates would not increase.")

3.) Does Not Include All Pensions - To divide one group of employees against another does not solve the Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL) issue. On the contrary, it is just a convenient strategy to divide and conquer workers for political gain.

4.) UAL May Actually Increase - The governor’s plan may cause the UAL to increase by forcing huge numbers of current employees to leave the state or retire while not having new employees as contributors paying into the state retirement systems. In other words, we may witness a run on the bank this fall if the plan passes. Right now, the Louisiana pensions are solvent. But they will not stay solvent under the Jindal proposal.

5.) “The Cat Food Retirement Plan” - A defined contribution plan for new hires without including Social Security benefits is cruel and unwise. I like to call this “The Cat Food Retirement Plan.” Cat food is what future retired state workers will be forced to eat if they live past the ripe old age of 75. There’s nothing morally right about this.

Many Louisiana citizens do not understand the negative impact that not paying into Social Security has on state employees. I know a woman who is a retired teacher. When her husband died, she lost all of his Social Security benefits. Now she teaches as a substitute several days a week in order to survive. She is close to eighty years old.

6.) General Fund - Putting the state retirement match into the General Fund is a disingenuous shell game and will not help the UAL in the least. This is just a short-term fix for this year’s budget woes.

7.) Hurts the Louisiana Workforce - Recruiting future state workers will be very difficult without Social Security and without a defined benefit plan. Likewise, the mass exodus of current employees will drain the state of skilled workers. Thus, good employees will be lost to outmigration and early departure from the Louisiana workforce.

8.) Breaks Promises - It breaks previous promises made to employees. It makes working for state agencies precariously unreliable places to be employed. In my case, it adds another 18 years to my promised retirement date.

9.) Devastating to Employees - The plan is harsh and unfair to current employees by raising taxes and changing the retirement age while reducing promised benefits.

10.) Harms Current Retirees - The plan will potentially jeopardize the overall solvency of Louisiana retirement systems, and it will hurt 300,000 already retired workers who depend on the benefits. This could cost the state dearly in the long-term.

It is unfair to snipe at plans related to a problem without proposing a set of remedies for the problem. What can we do about the UAL and the state retirement systems?

1.) Follow the constitution and keep promises made to current employees. Do not renege on retirement promises, and do not pass massive tax increases.

2.) Stop allowing state agencies to fail to contribute the appropriate amount toward employee pensions. This is why we are in trouble now.

3.) Adjust the benefits for future employees, but do not go to a defined contribution plan. Without Social Security, low and moderately paid state workers will starve in their retirement years. That is, if there are any state workers left after the plans go through.

For example, I signed on with an understanding that I could work at least 20 years for a retirement benefit equaling 40% of my salary, and I won’t get a dollar’s worth of Social Security as it now stands, even though I paid in 7 years prior to working for the state. I cannot imagine having neither Social Security nor a state pension.

4.) Put a cap on retirement benefits for the fat cats, typically unclassified employees. Make a rule that says no new employee, no not one, can make over $100,000 per year in retirement benefits.

5.) Keep in mind that the UAL will not be nearly as bad in the future as it seems to be right now. With a strong stock market and without a mass exodus of current state workers, things will become more solid with the debt. The market is stronger and appears to be continuing to expand. Furthermore, the UAL is already scheduled to be remedied over time, like a mortgage.

6.) Designate more state surplus dollars to go toward the UAL. We are facing problems now because the state did not pay what it was supposed to pay in the past.

7.) Quit playing partisan politics with rank-and-file workers’ retirement programs. It is bad for morale, bad for the Louisiana workforce, and bad for recruiting. It obscures the real problems with retirement and other issues in the state budget.

8.) Don’t divide workers. Deal with all of them as one group according to constitutional requirements.

9.) If necessary, raise the payroll contributions of new employees to 10 % and average the retirement benefits over the highest five years.

10.) The debt is slated to be paid off by 2029. Why not push this to 2039 with put in place even more "triggers" to make sure future budget surpluses go toward the UAL?


11.) Never put pension contributions, either the state match or employee contributions, in the General Fund. The General Fund is where Louisiana politicians go to steal.

Categorically, I am for fixing the UAL, but so far the proposals resemble mere political games rather than actual solutions. When Gov. Jindal took office, he had a 1.1 billion dollar surplus and the UAL was around 10.5 billion dollars. However, the surplus was squandered and now the UAL is 18.5 billion dollars. I cannot help but think the problem is with our governor and not with rank-and-file state employees.

I hope you will listen to voices that are often overlooked in the spin. Thanks for reading. I vote often, and I will not forget how elected officials voted on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Dayne Sherman
================================
Contact information for Louisiana Senators:

http://senate.la.gov/senators/Offices.asp

Contact information for Louisiana State Representatives (House):

http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_FullInfo.asp

The most important people are your 2 legislators and the members of the House and Senate Retirement Committees.

Senate Retirement Committee: http://senate.la.gov/Retirement/Assignments.asp

House Retirement Committee: http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Cmtes/H_Cmte_RE.asp

“Who are your state Senators and Representatives?”

http://www.legis.la.gov/ - Go to the bottom of the webpage. Click on the question and type in your address.

Contact information for the Louisiana Governor:
Gov. Bobby Jindal
PO Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004
Phone: 225-342-7015 / 1 866-366-1121 (Toll Free)
Fax: 225-342-7099
E-mail form: http://www.gov.la.gov/index.cfm?md=form&tmp=email_governor

Stop the madness of the Jindal Plan

The assault waged by politicians against public school teachers is an outrage. Public-school teachers are the glue that holds this country together.

Take away public-school teachers from our society, and America will sink faster than a bag of bricks in the Mississippi River.

Public-school teachers work long hours, nights, weekends and during the summers.

Many hold graduate degrees paid for by student loans.

They work to individualize instruction to address the needs of diverse student populations and daily meet rigorous standards of evaluation.

In addition, they are deeply involved in the community and care about children. Every teacher I know is the salt of the Earth.

Starting Monday, though, a full-court press is being made in the Legislature to pass the Jindal Plan, a package of bills that will attack the structure of Louisiana public schools and harm teachers and students.

It’s an unwise plan.

The goals include killing teacher tenure, beginning a poorly planned teacher-evaluation program, starting untested charter schools statewide and ushering in vouchers to give away public tax money to private entities, among other doomed education schemes.

This is the view asserted from a variety of respected education policy experts.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of the Jindal Plan is the goal to pass all of the key bills by the end of the week, before teachers and parents can wake up and realize what has happened. It’s an utter disgrace to ram through sweeping legislation without ample public debate.

So, what can we do to help failing public schools?

First, keep the current school-accountability plans and teacher-evaluation guidelines. Last year, Jindal was praising the state’s educational gains, but now his political goals have changed and so has his tune.

Second, provide pre-K funding for every community and every student in Louisiana.

Third, increase the Minimum Funding Plan this year for the first time in several years. Last, stop the insanity called the Jindal Plan.

Louisiana public-schools are making gains despite being given level funding from the state for the fourth year in a row. But if the Jindal Plan passes, the traditional public schools will be starved of even more funds.

Residents have less than one week to defend the public schools, or these schools will be a thing of the past.

If we don’t let the governor and legislators hear what we think, teachers, students, parents and communities will wonder what hit them.


Dayne Sherman
Ponchatoula
Published: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 6:01 a.m., Houma Courier
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If you are not happy with the Jindal Education Plan (or perhaps you are), let people know about it.
Contact information for Louisiana Senators: http://senate.la.gov/senators/Offices.asp
Contact information for Louisiana State Representatives (House): http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_FullInfo.asp
The most important people are your 2 legislators and the members of the House and Senate Education Committees.

House Education Committee: http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Cmtes/H_Cmte_ED.asp

Senate Education Committee: http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Education/Assignments.asp

“Who are your state Senators and Representatives?”
http://www.legis.la.gov/ - Go to the bottom of the webpage. Click on the question and type in your address.

Contact information for the Louisiana Governor:
Gov. Bobby Jindal
PO Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004
Phone: 225-342-7015 / 1 866-366-1121 (Toll Free)
Fax: 225-342-7099
E-mail form: http://www.gov.la.gov/index.cfm?md=form&tmp=email_governor

How to communicate with Louisiana legislators about retirement issues

The purpose of this blog post is to help people communicate about a matter of public concern, NOT TO LOBBY.

Hello, my name is Jane Doe, and I want to tell Senator/Representative Smith that I strongly oppose the upcoming retirement proposals. These are radical, unconstitutional plans that break promises made to state workers. It includes massive tax increases on state workers. It changes the established rules to hurt state workers, and it is going to make the UNFUNDED ACCRUSED LIABILTY of the retirement systems worse not better.

This is how it's going to hurt my family (explain).

Where does Senator/Representative John Doe stand on the retirement proposals?

Can he call me back at XYZ phone number? This is very important to me and my family.

Thank you for your service. Good-bye.

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Contact information for Louisiana Senators:
http://senate.la.gov/senators/Offices.asp

Contact information for Louisiana State Representatives (House):

http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_FullInfo.asp

The most important people are your 2 legislators and the members of the House and Senate Retirement Committees.

House Retirement Committee: http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Cmtes/H_Cmte_RE.asp

Senate Retirement Committee: http://senate.la.gov/Retirement/Assignments.asp

“Who are your state Senators and Representatives?”

http://www.legis.la.gov/ - Go to the bottom of the webpage. Click on the question and type in your address.

Contact information for the Louisiana Governor:

Gov. Bobby Jindal

PO Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004

Phone: 225-342-7015 / 1 866-366-1121 (Toll Free)
Fax: 225-342-7099

E-mail form: http://www.gov.la.gov/index.cfm?md=form&tmp=email_governor