-
Chris Christie and Climate Skeptics
May 9, 2013 | 54 comments
-
Stan Evans, Richard Nixon, and Chris Christie
March 28, 2013 | 89 comments
-
How Green Activists Target the Military and Endanger Our Security
January 22, 2013 | 6 comments
-
Death Panel Rattle
October 5, 2012 | 23 comments
-
Affirmative Action Reconsidered
January 25, 2012 | 26 comments
A Further Perspective
Vouching for Bobby Jindal
The education establishments wants him recalled, even as as education reforms are felt far beyond Louisiana.
(Page 2 of 3)
Sen. Conrad Appel, who chairs the Louisiana Senate Education Committee, anticipates that the school choice initiatives now taking root Louisiana will serve as an impetus for similar efforts in other states. But he also cautions against the idea the school voucher system standing alone will have an immediate impact on a substantial number of students. He does anticipate that the program will grow over time.”
“When you compare the voucher proposal with the legislation that could be used to open more charter schools, the modifications to teacher accountability, and the [re-defined] relationship between school boards, superintendents and principals we are talking about a gradual and incremental change,” he said. “But I think the voucher concept is very valid, and it does create opportunities for families that would not otherwise have a choice.”
Under the new legislation passed in May, any Louisiana student enrolled in a school with a C grade or lower is permitted to apply for a voucher. About 950 schools out of 1300 statewide fall in this category. (The letter grades applied to schools are based on student test scores. This new evaluation method, which became law in 2010, supplants an earlier system that used stars and labels to assess school performance. Gov. Jindal viewed the star and label approach as being a bit vague.)
School voucher applicants must also be part of a household with an income that does not exceed 250 percent of the federal poverty rate, or $57,625 for a family of four. This means about 380,000 students out of 700,000 statewide were eligible to apply for the school year beginning this fall. The latest figures available through the Louisiana Department of Education show over 7,500 applications were submitted. Students will be selected on the basis of a lottery.
In addition to the 2,300 seats available to voucher students in New Orleans, where a pilot scholarship program has been up and running since 2008, state officials have estimated that about 5,000 seats could be available in the fall.
The same legislation also provides public universities and non-profit groups with the authority to approve new charter schools. Parents would also have the right to convert an F school into a charter school with a majority vote.
Although union officials have expressed skepticism toward the charter school effort, which is now concentrated in New Orleans, their opposition to Jindal is largely concentrated against the expanded voucher program and the new tenure rules.
In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of school vouchers in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, which involved a pilot scholarship program in Ohio. The Court ruled that the program did not violate the First Amendment’s establishment of religion clause. But there other legal angles open to voucher opponents on the state level.
In June, the Louisiana School Boards Association joined with the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE) and the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) to file legal challenges against the funding formula used to support the statewide voucher program. The suits claim the Louisiana Constitution precludes funds allocated for public schools from being spent on private institutions. In response, the legal team representing the governor points out the Louisiana Constitution merely stipulates that the state funding be used to benefit public school students, not the school districts per se. Therefore, it is permissible for public school dollars to “follow the child,” they argue.
The LFT has filed a separate suit challenging the reforms Gov. Jindal made to teacher tenure. Under the new policy, teachers rated as “ineffective” after one year would lose tenure, while new teachers would not obtain tenure unless they receive high performance marks over a five year period. Jindal has also interlinked tenure with a new “value-added assessment” that includes student test scores as part of teacher evaluations. Under the previous policy, teachers automatically received tenure after three years.
Earlier this summer, District Judge Tim Kelley in Baton Rouge denied a union petition to issue an injunction that would have prevented the voucher program going forward this August.
But now, the Louisiana Association of Educators is applying legal pressure against the individual schools that are accepting voucher students. School choice proponents from across the country describe the move as “unprecedented.”
One letter from LAE to a Catholic school is online here.
Superintendent John White and Penny Dastugue, who chairs the state board of education, have issued a joint statement today condemning the threats. Several school choice advocacy groups have also weighed in, including the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the American Federation for Children, and the Pelican Institute.
Given how tenacious and effective he has been in the battle for school choice, it’s not surprising that Gov. Jindal was viewed as a potential vice-presidential candidate prior the section of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. If the Republican ticket prevails in November, Jindal would most certainly be in the running for a cabinet position, Chuck Dunn, a distinguished professor of government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, suggested.
About the Author
Kevin Mooney is an investigative reporter with free market think tanks associated with the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. He has also written for the Daily Caller, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, NetRightDaily.com and NewsBusters.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (30) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Kevin Mooney
More Articles From A Further Perspective
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/08/17/vouching-for-bobby-jindal
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
JamesDrouin| 8.17.12 @ 6:59AM
Union members performing badly and unions behaving in a manner that only the mentally retarded left wing liberal Democrats find acceptable...what a surprise.
Aristocat| 8.18.12 @ 4:16AM
Taxpayer-funded government schools are unconstitutiona for several reasons:
1) They violate Equal Protection clause because they do not treat all students equally...Only students who attend government schools get funding...
2) They violate the Constitutionally-protected "Free exercise of religion" clause because they force those whose religion requires them to attend private schools to pay for government schools and pay again for their private schools.
3) They violate the Bill of Rights because they are an establishment of religion....The religion of Secular Humanism which has been defined as such by the Supreme Court and is the religion of government schools....either that, atheism, or agnosticism...
JD| 8.18.12 @ 1:03PM
Almost everything Democrats have ever done violates the Equal Protection clause that way.
Alan Obama Fan Brooks | 8.19.12 @ 6:07PM
It isn't merely the government: America cannot do education.
Now, homeschooling, yes, it can be done and is done today on a small scale. But America cannot do education, courts, prisons... any institutions.
America was created only to do business.
Von Mises Jr| 8.17.12 @ 7:45AM
We see the government time and again use protectionist policies to stifle competition. Insurance costs in health care are exacerbated with restrictions of selling across state lines. Public Employee Teacher Unions protect incompetence with tenure and arbitration rules. Sugar, steel and other tariffs protect domestic companies from international competition.
This is what capitalism rejects. You get high insurance, poor schools and higher prices due to liberal's protectionist policies. If they are so damn good and so damn smart, why are they afraid of competition?
JD| 8.18.12 @ 1:03PM
They only hate monopolies when they don't run them.
Indy| 8.17.12 @ 8:01AM
Jindal is my pick for Secretary of HHS, Education or Energy.
Von Mises Jr| 8.17.12 @ 8:35AM
Let's hope he becomes Secretary of HHS and we end the Departments of Energy and Education.
Indy| 8.17.12 @ 9:53AM
Yes that would be the perfect solution. The Federal takeover of Education is especially troubling, look at the Common Core standards, we don't know who is writing them and working with publishing companies to write textbooks, this is all flying under the radar and quite alarming since it is really a globalization of education. I wish we could sit down for a drink to share info with those who are doing research and working towards solutions...we have much work to do.
Von Mises Jr| 8.18.12 @ 7:19AM
It would be a waste of time, Indy. They are communist running the Dept of Education. We simply need to teach our own children and help them educate their friends. They are much more curious than our trolls and many times more intelligent. And they are figuring out they will be paying for the losers EBT Card with their liberty.
RJ| 8.17.12 @ 11:55AM
Right On. I also hope that HHS will be reformed. If it continues as it is today, the health of the nation would be better off getting rid of it too.
JamesDrouin| 8.18.12 @ 12:56PM
Well, hopefully not ... those three Departments should be defunded and disbanded.
They are monumental failures by any measure.
DRed| 8.17.12 @ 10:02AM
Those vouchers are going to be used fund Islamic schools teaching the sharias. Jindal is a stealth muslim. Open your eyes, people.
Harry the Horrible| 8.17.12 @ 10:39AM
As long as they can also be used at Christian schools. We still have the Muzzies outnumbered.
Houdini| 8.17.12 @ 11:14AM
Until we break the back of public employee unions, our schools and other municipal institutions will be at their mercy.
Kingofthenet| 8.17.12 @ 11:49AM
First state I think about when I think 'Higher Education' is Louisiana, a bastion of knowledge like no other.Who needs those liberal States, like Massachusetts, Wisconsin, NY/NJ and California, with their Fancy Smancy, 'Ivy Leagues' when you got God.
http://ncse.com/news/2008/06/l.....ill-001437
Tom Kyba| 8.17.12 @ 12:25PM
Yeah, who needs to improve the level of teaching when we've got you with snot pouring from both nostrils as you enlighten everyone with your infantile yeehaw stereotypes of religion and southerners.
All hail Lord Kingofthenet!
spike59| 8.17.12 @ 3:46PM
boy, i sure wish I could have gone to some of those Fancy Ivey League schools like Columbia and Hardvard, so i could learn all 57 states, and how to speak Austrian
Butch| 8.17.12 @ 2:00PM
Jindal is sharp as a tack and a first-rate politician, too. There has to be a role for him on the national scene after his second term in Louisiana.
cicero| 8.17.12 @ 3:12PM
You can shuffle the deck chairs all you want, but the ship is sinking. School boards are too prone to be elected and controlled by the teachers unions. For decades we have heard that it is never the teachers' fault. It is the culture; the home environement; the State mandatedd tests; etc. However, if we pay more money, they will be able to work miracles. It has reached the point where, if you hear what they are saying, it is time to scrap the public school system in its entitety. If they cannot educaate the children, of what use are they?
All schools should be private, or at least charter. If they fail, they close. The parents should be able to vote with their dollars. A universal voucher system is the only answer. Why confine it to a chosen few of the poorest? You could send a kid to a private boarding prep school for the cost of the per child stiped in any major U.S. city school, where less than half graduate, and those who do are barely at 8th grade achievement levels. When are we going to wake up and take our country back?
Butch| 8.17.12 @ 5:42PM
Jackpot on those school boards, cicero. They get a special election where I live, and the electorate is majority teachers union. They rubber-stamp the union and oppose all reform that might keep parents from seeking better schools. The unions wouldn't have any "customers" under a voucher system, and Jindal knows that. Further, Louisiana is loaded with Catholic schools.
Jindal successfully canned the head of the L.S.U. system; he can get some real accountability professionals running those public schools, and he will if he has enough time.
Appleby| 8.17.12 @ 3:44PM
How about we close down the Department of Education and fire everybody that allegedly works there? And -- news flash -- make the parents of children responsible for their education? Don't give me that crap about your willingness to sell your child into wage slavery tomorrow for the price of a "free" education today. Buy him a laptop and take him to the library, and teach him what you know (or if you're under 40, what your parents know) and before you know it, he'll be better educated than you are and ready to take over the business.
The main thing we must do is get people over the notion that EVERYBODY ELSE is responsible for feeding, clothing, housing, educating, entertaining, marrying and burying the children to which they gave birth. Set hiring standards and leave it to the parents to make sure their kids meet or exceed those standards. At their own expense.
George Collins| 8.17.12 @ 5:32PM
Abolishing the Dept. of Education is not an option. A real budget cut is the only way to get an agency as corrupt and ineffective as Education under control. If you spent $100 last year, then you have $95 this year, and no hiring. $90 next year.
Appleby, I share some of your sentiment, but let's be realistic.
C'mon Man!| 8.17.12 @ 7:18PM
Lawyers are scum, and so are the people who use and hide behind them. "My lawyer said to do it" is irresponsible and selfish, with a temporary minor gain, perhaps, for the client, but permanent loss for the masses.
I have had several chances to "sue" someone, but have, and will continue to, pass.
Oldefarte| 8.18.12 @ 1:51PM
What needs to occur concerning public education is simply to eliminate labor unions from same, which could be brought about possibly by legislation [but only after an education of the public as to the destruction that unions facilitate within public school systems and in life generally speaking]. Unions are the cause of ineffective and inept teachers being to obtain and maintain their employment, not to mention the tenure of same. If teacher unions were eliminated and the administration/control of education turned back to the states, the problems of public education could be remedied quickly!!!!!!!
KamilBourne13| 8.18.12 @ 3:03PM
what Samuel said I'm stunned that people can earn $7118 in one month on the computer. did you see this page EarlyRich(dot)com (Click "Home" on the menu bar)
Jay Stevens| 8.18.12 @ 7:20PM
I agree with Appleby. It is time to pull the plug on the DoEd. It is not like we haven't given them enough time to achieve useful results.
Alan Obama Fan Brooks | 8.19.12 @ 6:04PM
Education will never be reformed in America, replaced maybe-- but not reformed. America can do agriculture, but not schools;
and our prisons are much much worse than our schools.
The business of America is business, not education.
Mnestheus| 8.20.12 @ 12:07AM
In homage to Jindal Family Values the Governor should surely mandate science teachers sufficiently fluent in Sanskrit to explain to grades 1 through 5 that the universe rests on turtles all the way down .
Barbara| 8.20.12 @ 1:52PM
Our family are lifetime Louisiana residents. For many reasons, Gov. Jindal’s school voucher program is alarming! Even people who do not have school aged children, and people who don’t work for school boards should be concerned dangerous potential of placing education into hands of some church leaders who are not what they profess to be –as well as likelihood of furthering political corruption and social oppression (via religion). Too many preachers & pastors (not all of them!) have more regard for politics and cronies, than ministry for God. Some are dangerously deluded, and should simply resign and cease abusing 501 (c) statuses. Sadly, the title of “pastor” doesn’t mean the same as bygone times when religious values truly mattered to all of the people who wore those religious titles. Furthermore, there is the appalling problem of CHARITY NONPROFIT FRAUD, and victimization as it pertains to awarding employment! *See more about preachers, politics, and nonprofits @ http://www.lawgrace.org/2012/0.....-religion/