Author: Lamar White, Jr

All Posts by Lamar White, Jr

Reminder: Bobby Jindal Is Mooning Louisiana Reply

Education, Health Care, Local Political News, Media Studies

Originally posted on February 5, 2012:

A few days ago, The Wall Street Journal compared Governor Bobby Jindal’s plans for education reform to Newt Gingrich’s plans for a moon colony. And they weren’t being facetious or ironic. Quoting from their article “Jindal’s Education Moon Shot“:

Newt Gingrich wants the U.S. to return to the moon, but as challenges go he has nothing on Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s school reform plans.

Mr. Jindal wants to create America’s largest school voucher program, broadest parental choice system, and toughest teacher accountability regime—all in one legislative session. Any one of those would be a big win, but all three could make the state the first to effectively dismantle a public education monopoly.

In an attempt at praising Jindal’s “reform” efforts, The Wall Street Journal unwittingly reinforced something most rational people already understand: Like Gingrich’s pitch for a colony on the moon, Jindal’s plan for education is irrational, untested, grandiose, and absurd. But at least they got one thing right: While Jindal and company attempt to convince us that they’re merely proposing scholarships, the simple and obvious truth is that they are calling for “America’s largest school voucher program.” Let’s get this out of the way: Jindal’s voucher plan is comically infeasible and impractical. From The Times-Picayune:

Under Jindal’s plan, about 380,000 students would qualify to receive state aid for tuition at a private or religious school, (Senator) Landrieu pointed out.

But even if every private elementary school in the state could immediately grow its enrollment by 10 percent to accommodate an influx of voucher recipients, only about 8,000 seats would be available. Include private high schools and that figure rises to about 11,200.

Jindal, by the way, did not dispute these numbers. He didn’t dispute that his voucher plan cannot and will not work, that there is no possible way he could ever deliver on his promise. Instead, his spokesperson said that Senator Landrieu was “missing the point.” No, no, she’s not. She’s speaking precisely on point: Jindal cannot deliver right now.

Thus far, unfortunately, teacher unions and the superintendents are playing right into Jindal’s hands. The teacher unions are harping on teacher pay and benefits; the superintendents, who stand to gain even more discretionary powers, are distancing themselves as quickly as possible, hoping to appear as apolitical as possible. I wonder, though: Are any of these people aware of the end-game here? Because Jindal’s proposals about performance-based pay and tenure are just window-dressing. On their own, they’re radical, to be sure, but not nearly as radical as Jindal’s end-game. Ultimately, Jindal’s goal, as The Wall Street Journal notes, is not merely to create the country’s “largest voucher program;” it’s about using taxpayer dollars to establish an undemocratic, unprotected parallel education system.

Senator Landrieu points out that we simply don’t have enough private-school openings to accommodate even a fraction of the kids to whom Jindal plans to give vouchers. She’s right, and on its surface, this makes Jindal’s plan foolish. Except vouchers aren’t really the issue either. Surely, Jindal is smart enough to know his numbers simply don’t add up, that there is no possible way he could ever deliver vouchers to even 5% of the kids who qualify. It’s a sham. And it’s meant to be a sham. It’s meant to provide the Governor with the ability to establish a threshold of public dollars per student that Louisianans would be willing to contribute toward the development of a parallel charter and for-profit education system and infrastructure. And he’s aiming at $8,500 per student per year. Again, this is precisely why Mr. Jindal unveiled his program in front of the largest group of business lobbyists in the State of Louisiana; there is a ton of money to be made in privatizing public education.

Mr. Jindal’s proponents will likely point to the charter school model created in New Orleans after the storm. There are many good people doing exceptional things in charter schools and in the Recovery School District, but sorry, it’s absolutely absurd to attribute any marginal successes in New Orleans education to a business model. When charters fail and when charters go bankrupt, which is the case more often than proponents would have us believe, it can be abruptly catastrophic for students and their families. And because of the way most charters are structured, there is little to no accountability when they fail.

I, for one, am tired of Bobby Jindal “experimenting” with Louisiana. Despite the fact that his diploma is from one of the finest public high schools in the country, Baton Rouge Magnet, I don’t believe he is an advocate for public education. For months, my buddy Zack Kopplin, a fellow graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet, pestered the public and the media about the Louisiana Science Education Act (the LSEA). If you need any evidence that Mr. Jindal doesn’t care about the quality of public education, then all you need to do is look at the LSEA, a pernicious and likely unconstitutional piece of legislation that allows public schools to substitute science with religion, a piece of legislation that was brought to you and funded through the generous contributions of the radical religious right– groups like the Discovery Institute and the (in my opinion, shady) Louisiana Family Forum. Mr. Jindal, a Biology major from Brown, likely knows better; he was even criticized by his own college biology professor. But while Mr. Jindal doubled-down on the radical right and signed a bill undermining the integrity of science education in our public schools, Zack did something else: He received endorsements from over 71 Noble Prize laureates calling for a repeal of the law. You know how many Nobel laureates have endorsed Governor Jindal? None. Zero.

When he signed the LSEA, Governor Jindal wasn’t guided by any metrics of academic performance; he wasn’t concerned with preserving the integrity of the institution of public education. Mr. Jindal was merely playing politics. And so it is with his proposed overhaul of education.

The inconvenient truth, ironically, is that public schools in Louisiana have improved during the last few years. Our graduation rates have increased by nearly 6% since 2001; we’re closing the so-called “achievement gap;” test scores are up. There’s no reason to suddenly panic, and certainly, there’s no basis for attempting to completely overhaul the entire education system.

Louisiana, we don’t need to be, once again, turned into Bobby Jindal’s experimental laboratory. We tried that once before, when he was Secretary of the DHH, and it didn’t work out well at all.

Mr. Jindal, despite his impressive academic pedigree, is and has always been manifestly and vehemently opposed to a robust and successful public education system. Our charter schools in New Orleans may be performing better than comparable schools were before the storm, but, really, so what? Who is to say that our public schools wouldn’t have rebounded just as well, had they only been given the same resources, priorities, and treatment as our charters? We strip money from public education, give it to private and quasi-private charters, and then, we wonder about why charters are out-performing public schools. We’re being dangerously naive.

Louisiana is still at the bottom of many public education rankings, and without any doubt, there is a lot of work to be done. But think about this: Every single state that is ranked higher than Louisiana is working with the same toolkit. They’re not giving millions and millions of taxpayer dollars to build a parallel system of education more adept at maximizing private-sector profits (no, this is definitely Bobby Jindal’s “moon shot”); they’re beating Louisiana because they’re investing in themselves. We, on the other hand, are being led by a man who seems all too eager and willing to privatize the most important public institution in the United States of America- the right to an education.

If Bobby Jindal wants to reform public education in Louisiana, then he needs to go back to the drawing board. If he is serious, then he needs to begin talking with educators instead of business lobbyists and radical fundamentalists. If anyone should profit from public education, it should be the people who actually invest their own money, not those who use public dollars for the expressed purpose of dismantling public education.

And if not, Jindal will continue to moon all of us, as he flies toward America’s newest extraterrestrial colony, a slab of rock hurling around the earth, a place that appears in phases and adheres to its own cycles, a land called Gingrich.

Eight Years After Being Shuttered, the Majestic and Historic Hotel Bentley Sold to New Owner, With Plans for Quick and Expansive Renovations 1

Downtown Alexandria, Local Political News, Media Studies

In December of 2004, in the aftermath of a major leak in its basement, the historic Hotel Bentley closed for business. For over a century, the Bentley represented the single most important historical and architectural landmark in Central Louisiana. During World War II, the Bentley served as the second home for General Dwight D. Eisenhower and General George Patton, among many others, as they planned the so-called “Louisiana maneuvers,” a series of trainings and strategy sessions that would prepare the more than 500,000 troops stationed in nearby military camps for an American-led invasion of Nazi-occupied France and Germany. Arguably, outside of Washington, D.C., the Hotel Bentley secretly hosted the most important military strategy sessions in American history.

And just as its historical significance cannot be overstated, neither can its architectural splendor: It was and continues to remain one of the most stunning and earliest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in the country, a building that slowly but steadily attempted to redefine itself as Art Deco, and, in doing so, also became an example of a third-wave of mid-20th century architecture, postmodernism. The Bentley is a unique architectural jewel, an marriage between the classicism of the early 20th century and the modernity of the mid-century. That is precisely why, a few years after its closure, the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation placed the Bentley on its top-ten endangered list.

There is no need to re-litigate the Bentley’s recent past: The politics, the threats of demolition permits, and all of the other groups who had invested their precious time and energy hoping, also, to reignite the promise of the Bentley. What is important now is that the Hotel Bentley now belongs to Alexandria’s most sincere and most accomplished Downtown pioneer and champion, Mike Jenkins.

On a personal note, I want to salute and commend Mike Jenkins for his tenacious and unwavering dedication to the people of Alexandria. Earlier this week, Jenkins bought the Hotel Bentley for $3.4 million, a fair price and one that, I suspect (with all due respect to Mr. Jenkins), would have been immediately accepted by investors who had submitted previous offers. Again, I don’t want to re-litigate recent history, but suffice it to say, at $3.4 million, this deal would have been sealed three or four years ago, if the hotel’s owner, Bob Dean, hadn’t held the hotel hostage at an unreasonably high asking price of $6.5 million (which was, at one point, $12.2 million).

Mr. Jenkin’s persistence and his acumen paid off, and because of it, he received a great deal that will allow him to make the Bentley even greater.

In the next six months, Alexandrians will likely see construction crews at the Bentley, something we haven’t witnessed in decades. He plans on converting portions of the Bentley’s “new wing” into condominiums, the only condominium tower in all of Central Louisiana that will offer sweeping, beautiful views of the Red River, and he will ensure the remainder of the historic structure continues, again, to function as a high-end boutique hotel.

Finally, guys, we have to thank and acknowledge Mayor Jacques Roy. He was first elected six years ago, and despite this intransigence that he sometimes battled against, he remained steadfast: While some lobbied for the City to purchase the Bentley, Mayor Roy championed a private-sector solution. He believed the City must remove itself, as much as possible, from the hotel business. A few months ago, he signed a contingency  purchase agreement for the already-City-owned Alexander Fulton, and this week, he ensured that the Hotel Bentley will remain where it should be, in the private-sector. His work and the years-long efforts by his staff have paid off.

So, three cheers for Mike Jenkins, and three cheers for Jacques Roy. Long live the Hotel Bentley.

David Vitter Is Already Leading In 2015 Gubernatorial Election, According to Former Vitter Staffer Reply

Local Political News, Media Studies, National News

A couple of weeks ago, Lane Grigsby, one of the most prolific and influential Republican donors in modern Louisiana history, commissioned the conservative-leaning Bernie Pinsonat to conduct a comprehensive statewide poll that primarily focused on Governor Jindal’s agenda. Unsurprisingly, Pinsonat’s poll revealed that Jindal’s approval rating has dropped substantially; in the course of only a year, Jindal went from being one of the most popular governors in the country to one of the least popular and most controversial. Moreover, Pinsonat’s polling revealed that Jindal’s policies on taxes, the budget, health care, and education are opposed by a majority of Louisianans.

In response to Pinsonat’s poll, Bobby Jindal’s acolytes have been almost too predictable: The data was skewed, they’ve said. This is nothing more than a left-wing conspiracy built on flawed methodology and an oversampling of liberals. Quoting from The Advocate:

Timmy Teepell, Jindal’s chief political adviser, said, “Any poll that has Obama within 6 points of Romney in Louisiana, I’m not going to take seriously.”

Teepell continued, “That’s skewed pretty far to the left.”

It’s worth noting: Timmy Teepell, who is the home-schooled son of a wealthy and influential Baton Rouge family and who remains one of the most powerful figures in Louisiana, a man who currently calls himself Jindal’s Chief of Politics, never attended college. He earned his high school diploma behind his family’s kitchen table, and after bypassing college, he cleverly anointed himself a “Road Scholar.” Mr. Teepell’s “riches-to-riches” story obviously resonates with Governor Jindal. For years, Jindal has entrusted his political messaging to Teepell, and Teepell, to his credit, has been a loyal and well-compensated foot soldier.

Incidentally, Pinsonat’s poll may have placed Obama 6 points behind Romney in Louisiana, but it also revealed that 17% of voters were undecided. Teepell’s criticism is self-serving and without merit. According to Pinsonat’s poll, 39% of Louisianans support the re-election of President Obama. In 2008, 39.9% of Louisianans voted for President Obama; Pinsonat’s poll reveals only that Obama’s support in Louisiana remains solid, while Romney’s is still soft.

Considering that 31% of Louisianans are African-American and that 95+% of African-Americans support Obama, these results shouldn’t be too surprising. Remember also: Romney lost the Louisiana Republican Presidential primary to Rick Santorum. I’m not deluded. I recognize Obama will likely lose Louisiana by double-digits, but he will still garner a significant portion. Even in Louisiana, he’s still the incumbent President.

Either way, though, the point is: Jindal and his allies seek to discredit the conservative-leaning and conservative-sponsored Pinsonat polling because it’s severely embarrassing for them.

Timmy Teepell probably should have just waited a couple of days before insulting Pinsonat and Grigsby’s poll, a poll that actually showed Obama’s support in Louisiana decreasing since 2008.

He should have known that David Vitter was lurking.

Yesterday, Magellan released a poll conducted by a former Vitter staff member. I realize I am burying the real story here, but if you’ve read this far, you should know: David Vitter is most definitely planning to run for Governor of Louisiana, and he rightfully thinks that his strongest opponent is New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Magellan’s poll is fraught with disastrous flaws: It severely oversamples white Republicans, by at least 15 points; it’s not proportionate among Congressional districts; its methodology and questioning are leading and disingenuous. It’s heavily skewed toward conservatives, which is not surprising; after all, it was led by a Vitter-man. And there’s hardly any mention of Bobby Jindal or his policies; Vitter isn’t even slightly interested in how Jindal is polling.

According to David Vitter’s pollster, Junior United States Senator David Vitter is the most popular elected official in the State of Louisiana. Before even announcing, David Vitter is already a 5-point favorite in a heads-up race for Governor against Mitch Landrieu. According to his poll, the majority of Louisianans care more about taxes than social issues (like cavorting with prostitutes, I imagine); considering that Vitter was initially elected on a platform of social issues– only to be subsequently ensnared in the most notorious prostitution scandal in American history– he must be relieved to know that he can continue ignoring his complicity in alleged federal crimes and focus instead on starving and depriving Louisiana from federal funding.

Oh, and despite what Pinsonat’s poll suggested, Mary Landrieu is rejected by the overwhelming majority of voters. (Sort of. Actually, the questions about Vitter and Mary were completely different. While Magellan asked if people “approved” of Vitter, they then followed up by asking if people agreed that someone should run against Mary).

The take-away is this: While Governor Jindal argues that the polls are all wrong about him, David Vitter is buying his own polls and making himself appear to be our beloved and popular frontrunner.

David Vitter wants to run for Governor, and the Landrieu family still scares the ever-loving hell out of him. As they should: Despite what Vitter’s obviously biased polling suggests, if the election were held tomorrow, Mitch would beat Vitter by double digits. Vitter’s antipathy toward “Democrats” can only go so far in a state in which registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by nearly two-to-one. To outside prognosticators, this may seem baffling, but here’s the thing: Unlike Vitter, Mitch has an actual record to run on, and Louisianans don’t care nearly as much about the United States Senate as they do about the Governor’s Mansion.

Cashing Out: Jindal’s Agenda Opposed by the Majority of Louisianans; Personal Favorability at All-Time Low 1

Education, Health Care, Local Political News, Media Studies • Tags: , , , , ,

On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, pollster Bernie Pinsonat of the group Southern Media and Opinions announced the results of the scientific poll he and his organization had conduced in Louisiana. As Clancy DuBos of The Gambit points out, the poll, somewhat ironically, was commissioned and paid for by Baton Rouge conservative Lane Grigsby, a man who has, throughout the years, invested thousands of dollars to support a variety of “down-ticket” candidates, most notably a roster of candidates that Governor Jindal had endorsed for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Ordinarily, fairly or not, critics would have been prepared to downplay the poll’s results as client-driven and biased, but this time, Pinsonat’s poll revealed something extraordinary, perhaps even embarrassing for the conservatives that have bankrolled and supported Mr. Pinsonat’s operation.

First and most importantly, Governor Jindal’s most recent approval rating is now only 51%, a slight majority (though within the margin of error), representing one of the largest and most significant plummets in Louisiana history. In less than a year, Jindal’s popularity dropped by a staggering 13 points, and before that, his approval had been even higher, hovering around the low-70s.

I called this post “Cashing Out,” because I believe Jindal’s meteorically-sinking polling numbers are the direct result of his decision to spend the bulk of the political capital he had accumulated on poorly-managed, poorly-executed, widely unpopular, and ideologically-driven policies– not because he believed these policies would substantively address any problems in Louisiana, but, instead, because he had hoped that by championing the provocative and expansive national model legislation crafted by conservative think tanks on education, health care, and taxes, he could better brandish his own Republican bonafides and more convincingly make his own case for a vice presidential nomination.

Louisiana wised up. Louisiana caught on. Some of us may remember that when Jindal ran for Governor in 2007, he repeatedly argued that Louisiana was a rich state,  even though we’re one of the poorest in the country. After five years, it should be abundantly clear: Bobby Jindal has never understood Louisiana. He’s lived in the rarefied air of the wealthy and landed elite since he was a teenager, a parallel universe, one where it’s possible to suggest that Louisiana is “rich” merely because all of your friends from Louisiana are rich.

While Governor Jindal travels across the country touting his non-existent record on education reform and his daring plans for school vouchers, the polling indicates that only 26% of Louisianans actually support his education agenda, and most tellingly, 54% of Louisianans (the majority and outside of the margin of error) are opposed to his controversial school voucher program, the centerpiece of his second-term as Governor and, arguably, the most important legislation of his career.

Again, Jindal may still be approved by the narrowest of margins, but if you dig a little deeper, you find that his actual plans are overwhelmingly opposed: A stunning 68% of Louisianans oppose additional cuts to the state’s operating budget. 79% of Louisianans believe that additional cuts to the charity hospital system will severely hurt quality of care.  And, in perhaps the most damning indictment against Jindal’s record, 69% of Louisianas believe the State Legislature should be more independent from the Governor.

Today, the most popular statewide elected official in Louisiana is United States Senator Mary Landrieu, the only Democrat in Louisiana who currently holds statewide office; Landrieu is approved by 62% of voters, 11% more than support Governor Jindal.

But that’s an entirely different story.

Fox News’s Self-Imploding Bombshell Reply

Local Political News, Media Studies, National News

Seven months ago, shortly after the death of conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart, the brain trust that inherited his “media empire” announced they had “bombshell” footage of a young Barack Obama, footage they claimed would prove, once and for all, that President Obama was a radical racist. Sean Hannity and Fox News salivated, teasing the story for hours, promising an “exclusive” that would forever change the way Americans thought of the President.

And as it turned out, the story was nothing more than a recycled video that had aired on PBS in 2008 of Barack Obama, as a law school student, introducing one of his college professors at a rally protesting the lack of diversity among Harvard’s tenured law professors. It wasn’t a bombshell; it was a dud. Because the actual “bombshell” was not about what Obama said but about the nationally-renowned law professor he had introduced, the conservative activists and Breitbart heirs who had hailed the video as a damning indictment of Obama were suddenly forced to explain the nuances and the contours of critical race theory; almost immediately, they demonstrated their complete ignorance, reminiscent of when conservative pundits suddenly all became experts in liberation theology after Jeremiah Wright became a household name.

Yesterday, though, Sean Hannity and Fox News outdid themselves. During the mid-afternoon, Matt Drudge, with sirens blazing, announced Tucker Carlson and The Daily Caller were set to release another bombshell video of President Obama that would prove, once and for all, he was a radical racist. But if you wanted to see the video, you’d have to wait to watch Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News. It was, to quote Yogi Berra, “deja vu all over again.”

Once again, as it turned out, the video was recycled; the story was stale; this wasn’t news, and it most certainly wasn’t a bombshell. It was simply footage of a 2007 speech that then-Senator Obama delivered in front of a majority African-American audience at Hampton University in Virginia, a speech that had been covered and reported by numerous news outlets.

Three weeks ago, I heard former Education Secretary Bill Bennett tell an overwhelmingly white conservative audience at SMU that America was no longer a “racist country,” a statement that earned him a round of sustained applause. The most powerful example of this, he claimed, was the election of President Obama. Bennett, who spent the bulk of his remarks outlining his opposition to the President, gave lie to an insidious argument: That America has somehow entered a post-racial era because a man that he voted against and continues to vociferously and publicly oppose was elected to the highest office in the land. “I’m not racist. Some of my best friends are black” has become “We’re not racist. Our President is black.”

I am not, by any means, suggesting that I believe Bill Bennett is racist; I just think he’s fundamentally wrong: Racism is still alive and well in these United States, and it’s intellectually lazy and dishonest to suggest that President Obama’s election ushered in a post-racial era.

I watched Sean Hannity’s “bombshell” report yesterday on Fox News, and as a white guy who was born and raised in a majority African-American city and who attended and graduated from a majority African-American public high school, I’ve gotta say: As demonstrated by  their “exclusive” report on the five-year-old recording of President Obama at Hampton University, I don’t think there’s any question that Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are both racists, in the strictest sense of the term. And I grew up around white people who spat out the n-word in casual conversation; I know people who treat the Confederate flag with more reverence than the American flag, and I’ve even encountered a few people who were members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Let me explain: There is a difference between the backwoods, overt racism of the ignorant and uneducated and the insidious and subtle racism of the wealthy and educated elite. I’m not trying to excuse or diminish the festering hatred espoused by overt racists, but I strongly believe that subtle racism can actually be much more insidious and corrosive. Largely, this is because overt racism is so easily identifiable and recognizable, and although we are not yet a post-racial society, overt racists are, fortunately, more readily marginalized; they’re not mainstream.

Admittedly, I don’t watch much of Sean Hannity’s program; I understand that he talks for a living, and I’m sure that one could easily find examples of him talking highly and respectfully of African-Americans. Those examples wouldn’t change my mind, however. Yesterday, he and Tucker Carlson spent thirty minutes on primetime television arguing that Barack Obama was a racist, because in a five-year-old video, the President sounded more “black” than he usually does. This is what subtle racism looks like: It’s two wealthy, conservative white men warning America that the nation’s first African-American President once addressed a majority African-American audience in a “phony” “black” voice. They’re not really worried about Obama’s “affectation.” The story wasn’t about ensuring that people knew Obama “faked” sounding “black;” it was about reminding a white conservative audience of Obama’s blackness, his “Otherness.”

For twenty years, whenever Bill Clinton spoke in front of a majority African-American congregation, his oratorical skills were lauded, even by conservatives who resented his politics. He was praised for his ability to channel the cadence of a folksy, charismatic Southern preacher. Indeed, shortly after the Democratic National Convention, Chuck Schumer compared Clinton’s speech to a sermon in an African-American church.

From 2000-2008, the President of the United States was a man who was born in Connecticut, the son and grandson of one of the country’s most powerful and established families, a man who spent most of his childhood at elite New England boarding schools before graduating from Yale and then Harvard. Yet, somehow, George W. Bush always sounded like an east Texan wildcatter.

On a personal note, whenever I spend two or more hours around my hometown friends, I inevitably, almost instinctually, revert to a pronounced Louisiana drawl.

Fox News is now attempting to frame its “bombshell” exclusive video of Obama as a story about what he said; the story was actually about how he said it: He sounded like a black minister speaking in front of a gathering of black ministers. That was Fox’s story; that was what Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson and others debated for over a half an hour. It wasn’t about what Obama had said but how he said it.

This is most amusing to me. Here’s the headline Fox News is currently running:

As the actual video proves, that’s not at all what Obama was suggesting. Quoting (bold mine):

“When 9/11 happened in New York City, they waived the Stafford Act. … And that was the right thing to do,” he tells the crowd at Hampton University in Virginia. “When Hurricane Andrew struck in Florida, people said, ‘Look at this devastation. We don’t expect you to come up with your own money. Here, here’s the money to rebuild. We’re not going wait for you to scratch it together, because you’re part of the American family.’ “

Obama, echoing rapper Kanye West’s infamous anti-Bush remarks a couple years earlier, then argues that New Orleans was treated differently, suggesting the reason was that the city is mostly black.

“What’s happening down in New Orleans? Where’s your dollar? Where’s your Stafford Act money?” Obama says. “Makes no sense. … Tells me that somehow the people down in New Orleans they don’t care about as much.”

Amen.

He wasn’t channeling Kanye West; Obama didn’t say that New Orleans was being treated differently because “the city is mostly black.” Fox just made that up. (Just as they also made up the notion that Obama was “dog whistling” to black racists by suggesting that we should reinvest in urban infrastructure instead of building more highways to the suburbs; it’s called “smart growth,” and it’s not a racist conspiracy).

Frankly, as a Louisianan, I wish Obama had said what he said more forcefully and more frequently.

He was expressing what every single rationally-minded person in Louisiana already knew to be true: That the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina was an abysmal failure, that nearly two years after the storm, Louisiana’s recovery was plagued by bureaucratic red tape, that we should have immediately suspended certain provisions of the Stafford Act in order to provide relief to Louisiana in the same way we did for Florida after Hurricane Andrew and New York after September 11th, that Louisiana was not treated equitably. This is all irrefutably true, and I don’t have any patience for the cadre of Republican pundits and news outlets who seek to revise Louisiana history to tailor some sort of fantasy narrative about how an African-American politician criticizing the federal response to Katrina in front of a majority African-American response is somehow racist.

Again, this is the headline story on FoxNews.com, and it’s cringe-worthy.

At least one Louisiana-based blogger agrees with Fox’s angle. In a post titled “The 2007 ‘Ghetto Obama’ Speech,” Scott McKay (who completely misses the legitimate criticisms of Stafford Act exemptions) of The Hayride writes:

Furthermore, what’s with this assumption that everybody in New Orleans who was affected by Katrina was black? Lakeview, which was mostly white, was essentially cleared when the 17th Street Canal levee failed. And Metairie Club Gardens, perhaps the richest and whitest area in the whole city, took six feet of water. Those were million-dollar houses and they were ruined. Even today, not all of them have been rebuilt.

One can only hope that Fox News will take notice and immediately book Scott McKay for a series of national interviews. He can talk about how racist it is that “ghetto Obama” neglected to mention the plight of millionaires who haven’t yet rebuilt their million-dollar homes.

Louisiana Superintendent John White Continues to Shield Records on Voucher Program; Hires High-Priced PR Consultant to Lead Communications 6

Education

 

Superintendent John White. Courtesy: The Times-Picayune

For over three months, Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White has refused to release records detailing the criteria and the process by which he and his department used to determine the eligibility of schools seeking to participate in the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program, more commonly known as Louisiana’s voucher program. Put more simply and plainly, for over three months, John White has concealed any and all records related to how he decided which private schools were eligible for a massive infusion of taxpayer funding. He’s refused to give parents information on how these schools were ranked, how the Department of Education measured their qualifications, and whether there were any outstanding complaints or issues with these schools.

Superintendent White claims that he does not have to release these records, asserting a rarely-used “deliberative process” exemption. But I have my own theory: I don’t think there were any real deliberations. There may actually be records of Superintendent White’s decision-making process, but, obviously, if he was proud of the integrity of these decisions, he’d be more than happy to share them with the people of Louisiana, including all of those parents that he claims to support. More than likely– and I realize I am engaging in some speculation here, the records of Superintendent White’s decision-making process are strings of encouraging e-mails between him, his staff, and the operators of private schools they hoped to entice. More than likely, Superintendent White did not use any type of test with which to determine a school’s merits or qualifications. More than likely, he never looked into what any of these schools were actually teaching, or even whether or not they were a real school in a real building.

Yet, as John White tours Louisiana attempting to sell this voucher program, he tells anyone who will listen that his main priority is providing parents with the information they need to make an informed decision on where to send their child to school. That’s how both Governor Jindal and Superintendent White have attempted to spin and sell this program: Parental choice. Yet they won’t even provide parents with basic information on how and why they chose these schools.

“If John White wants to actually communicate with parents, he should be open and honest,” writes education activist Zack Kopplin. “He should inform the public about the curriculums used by the schools in his voucher program.” And he’s spot on. Superintendent White, however, has no intention or desire to be open or honest about the schools he approved for taxpayer subsidization.

Earlier this week, in what is the surest sign yet that Superintendent White’s messaging on school vouchers has been derailed, he announced he would be spending $12,000 a month on a Florida-based public relations consultant specifically tasked with managing the Department’s communication on school vouchers.  Notably, Superintendent White already employs a full-time press secretary, who earns $70,000 a year.

“The number one thing our system needs right now is the work of great teachers and parents,” Superintendent White told WAFB News. “And teachers and parents need to be communicated with to get the information that they need.” Except, of course, any of the relevant information.

Superintendent White then went onto say, “Our people are crying out for more communication,” which, to me, sounds more like, “We’re getting pummeled here, and we needed to bring in some professional help.”

Last weekend, during Rising Tide’s panel on education, Dr. Lance Hill, the Executive Director of Tulane’s Southern Institute for Education and Research, suggested that the outcry over Jindal’s school voucher program was misdirected. Around 5,000 students are currently enrolled in the program, he pointed out. To him, the real threat to the promise of public education is the proliferation of charter schools. He’d made some good points throughout the panel, but it struck me as uncharacteristically naive for a Louisiana education policy expert to dismiss the voucher program as if it were some unimportant “diversion.” I recognize there has been an enormous amount of scholarship and research on the merits of charter schools, but with all due respect to people like Dr. Hill: If you still believe that charter schools are the single greatest threat to the public education system, then you clearly don’t understand the vision and implications of the voucher program.

There is a reason Louisiana’s Superintendent of Education has spent the last nine months defending and promoting this program.

There’s a reason Superintendent White is spending $12,000 a month for a consultant whose primary responsibility is to defend a program that has only been made available to 5,000 students but has qualified nearly 380,000 students (more than half of all public school students in Louisiana). Make no mistake: This is their long-term plan, and they’re willing to pay big bucks to sell it.

Gene Mills and the Louisiana Family Forum Direct Supporters to Gay Pornographic Websites 1

Local Political News, Media Studies, Social Activism

In their most recent newsletter, Gene Mills and the Louisiana Family Forum directed thousands of subscribers and supporters to an apparently bogus story published by a website, Instinct Magazine, that describes itself as “America’s #1 Gay Men’s Magazine.” Quoting from the Louisiana Family Forum’s newsletter:

It’s weird enough that the Louisiana Family Forum would direct supporters to visit a website that features videos of gay men posing in their underwear on its front page (and I am not suggesting that this website is any more pornographic than the J.C. Penny catalog, though I imagine it’d make the overwhelming majority of the LFF’s membership more than a little squeamish).

This story is actually just a recapitulation of a tall tale told to another website, South Florida Gay News, describing the poor plight of an aspiring “ULL Law School student” (note: ULL does not have a law school) who, after spending time as a hardcore gay porn actor, had his dreams of opening his very own gay fraternity crushed by the ULL administration (who claim, on the record, that they have no idea what the hell this guy is talking about).

Instinct dutifully references its one and only source, South Florida Gay News, which dutifully references its one and only source about the student, which dutifully references gay porn sites. (I told Rising Tide to “do your homework” and “become an expert,” so, forgive me, but I’m not linking to pornography. You can find it on your own). 

I anticipate some may suggest I am not being fair, that the Louisiana Family Forum didn’t actually link to gay pornography; they just linked to a news story published by a website that prominently features photos and videos of half-naked gay men. But here’s the problem: If you actually care about the veracity of the story; if, like me, you wonder why this random online magazine and a website out of Florida are the only two publications in the world who are carrying this story, or why no one in the Louisiana media has caught onto this yet, or why this is important enough for the Louisiana Family Forum to distribute to thousands of its religiously right-wing followers and benefactors; if you are savvy enough to think, “Hey, this story seems a little sketchy;” or if you’re a small child who knows how to use a keyboard and a mouse: Fair warning, the Louisiana Family Forum, the State’s greatest advocate for traditional family values, just ensured that you’re two or three clicks away from hardcore gay pornography.

(As a postscript: It’s worth nothing that while it’s particularly ironic and bizarre that Reverend Mills would lead his supporters to gay pornography, it could have just as easily have been straight pornography. OK. Maybe not “just as easily.” It’s fairly obvious that the folks at the Louisiana Family Forum either troll gay websites OR, more likely, they’ve set their Google notifications to alert them any time “ULL” and “gay” appear in the same sentence).

Louisiana Family Forum’s Patrick Henry Award 1

Humor, Local Political News

During the next few days, I will be revisiting the role of the Louisiana Family Forum. But before I get into the nitty-gritty details, I thought I’d have some fun.

Last Thursday, the Louisiana Family Forum hosted its annual Legislative Awards Banquet, where it gave 24 State Senators and 56 State Representatives a bronzed bust of Patrick Henry, a Founding Father, of course, the biological father of eighteen children from three different women (eleven from his second wife, who was half his age when they married), and a slave-owning, outspoken opponent of the United States Constitution. 

Apparently, for the Louisiana Family Forum, no other American better exemplifies freedom, liberty, and old-fashioned family values than Patrick Henry, who, in 1765, famously said, “Give me liberty, or give me death,” immediately after asking his slaves to clean the outhouse. Seriously, though, Henry’s entire quote is (bold mine), “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, Give me Liberty, or give me Death!”

To be sure, Patrick Henry wasn’t the only Founding Father who owned slaves, and after a friend sent him a book against the slave trade, he wrote back, suggesting that while he believed slavery was evil, abominable, rude, and barbarous, he sure enjoyed its conveniences. At least he was honest.

The Louisiana Family Forum, for years now, has attempted to recast Patrick Henry (in faux-bronze) as a champion of family values. A champion of family values who confined his first wife into a strait jacket and a small room; she had apparently become depressed after giving birth to their sixth child, and after she died, Henry refused to provide her with a Christian burial (believing that she was possessed by the devil) and buried her body in an unmarked grave. A champion of family values who cheated on his second wife with one of his slaves, fathering an African-American son named Melancthon.

Again, yes, George Washington also owned slaves. Thomas Jefferson did too, and, like Patrick Henry, he also fathered a child with one of his slaves. Suffice it to say, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who would ever give out a family values award named after any of our Founding Fathers.

But there is a reason the Louisiana Family Forum seeks to redefine Patrick Henry as a paragon of good, old-fashioned family values, even if history suggests otherwise: Patrick Henry isn’t a hero of the radical religious right because he was a champion of traditional Christian families; he is their hero because he was one of America’s earliest, most eloquent, and most famous anti-federalists. He’s their hero because he hated taxes, hated the idea of a federal government, and distrusted the role of the President.

Let’s be clear: He was a slave-owner who compared taxes to slavery. If he’d had his way, there likely would be no United States of America; we’d merely be a collection of states. There’d be no United States Constitution, no federal rule of law.

I have a suggestion for the Louisiana Family Forum: The award looks fancy enough. Who wouldn’t want the bust of an 18th century, wig-wearing white guy on their trophy case? You just need to change the name. After all, it’s disingenuous to suggest Patrick Henry was a family values guy. Instead, the plaque should read, “Destruction of Government Advocate.” And the best thing is: You wouldn’t have to change a single thing about your selection criteria.

My Acceptance Speech at Rising Tide 1

Local Political News, Media Studies, Self-referential drivel

My prepared remarks (I frequently went off-script):

Thank you Mark and thank you to the organizers of Rising Tide. Mark– Oyster, as we know affectionately know you– I realize you have somewhat of a conflict of interest, but for me and I’m sure for everyone else here, you have carried on the legacy of Ashley Morris with more skill, more gusto, and more heart than anyone else. If, one day, you ever decide to give yourself this award, we’ll all understand.

This is a huge honor. And it’s made all the more special because the award is named after a man that I deeply admired, both as a writer and as a fierce advocate for the people of Louisiana. I’m very grateful that only a few months before he passed away, I was able to tell Ashley Morris that I was a fan of his and that he was able to say, “Hey, thanks.”
I recognize I am not the likeliest of recipients. For one thing, this conference celebrates the culture and the PEOPLE of New Orleans, and I’ve never actually lived in New Orleans.
Do you guys remember David Simon’s lecture on “standing” from a couple of years ago? I’m still trying to figure out what he meant, but I know this: I’m much more likely to fall when standing than when sitting. So, forgive me, but I’m going to remain seated.
Mark’s been generous enough to give me a few minutes to speak, so I’m going to do my best Jindal impersonation and attempt to roll through my remarks as fast as humanly possible.
I just wanted to share a few pieces of advice with you all, my fellow bloggers, advocates, activists, and, most importantly, my fellow Louisianans.
First and most importantly, WRITE FEARLESSLY. It wasn’t until I was a freshman at Rice University that I learned what it meant to write fearlessly. I’d just lost my father. He died when he was only 41, and at the time, I was enrolled in my first-ever creative writing class- a personal essay class, which was taught by a woman named Marsha Recknagel. In the midst of my grief, she taught me that writing could be empowering, but in order to be empowered, you must also allow yourself to become vulnerable: Sometimes, that means sharing things that are  painful or even embarrassing. For me, it means, for example, that when I write about the defeat of an anti-school bullying bill against kids who are different, whether because of their sexual orientation or their physical or mental disability, I must be willing to share with all of you, despite my pride and my strong sense of independence, that I was bullied because of my disability when I was a kid– purposely knocked down in the halls of my high school, called names– and that even though I’m all grown up now, it really hasn’t ended. Writing fearlessly requires that you stomach some personal vulnerability. But oddly enough, vulnerability can be empowering.
Second, DON’T BE AFRAID TO APOLOGIZE. As most of you know, Andrew Breitbart’s final public statement was an apology to yours truly. It may have been uncharacteristic of him, but for many of his fans, after his passing, that final tweet reinforced his humanity. Again, you can only become empowered as a blogger or an advocate if you also allow yourself to be vulnerable. When you’re wrong, admit your mistake.
And finally, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Be exhaustive. Be thorough. If you’re going to publicly take a position on any given issue, do the rest of us a favor: Become an expert on that issue. If you do that, I promise: You’ll very rarely have to apologize, and people will pay attention.
So, I’m running out of time, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank a few other people. Really, really quick: My mom, my brother, and my sister; my old boss, the current Mayor of Alexandria and our future Governor, Jacques Roy; my best friend and my best editor ever, Daniel T. Smith; my partner in crime and someone who has become like a brother from another mother, Zack Kopplin; my friend Matt Bailey, who coaxed me into help him create a chapter of the New Leaders Council here in Louisiana; the great Dambala, also known as Jason Berry; all of the people who have contributed to and commented on my website during the last six years; the good people at the website The Daily Kingfish, most notably its founder Ryan, and, of course, Tony Perkins, Gene Mills, John White, Bobby Jindal, and the overwhelming majority of the Louisiana legislature, for giving me and others a fight worth fighting and one that I know, together, we will win.
I’ve got this bumpersticker on my computer that says “Remember Ashley Morris. FYYFF.” Remind me again, what does FYYFF mean?

John White’s Smoke and Mirrors Reply

Education

Gannett needs to stop reporting that Louisiana Superintendent of Education, John White, has suddenly decided to enact “tougher standards” on schools that he qualified for taxpayer subsidization as a part of the state’s voucher program. It’s simply and flatly untrue, a complete fabrication, a purposely cynical attempt by Superintendent White to spin his constitutionally-mandated responsibilities as some sort of personal and political triumph. And with all due respect to the reporters who have seemingly bought into the narrative sold to them by Superintendent White, you’ve been hoodwinked, and it’s embarrassing.

John White continues to block public records requests about the schools he qualified for taxpayer funding. Records that speak directly to his decision-making process, records that demonstrate his negligence, his lack of oversight, records that could show his alleged collusion with the operators of private schools and the “walking quorums” he apparently spearheaded. Months after attempting to “muddy up the narrative,” John White now seeks to clean the waters, but it’s not going to work.

There’s absolutely nothing noteworthy or praiseworthy about John White’s decision to audit the schools that receive voucher funding. That was already required; John White isn’t imposing any “tougher” requirements; in fact, he’s insisting that taxpayers foot the bill for these already-mandated audits.

Despite what Gannett reported, John White has not done a single thing to insure that accountability standards for voucher schools will be “tougher.” Quoting:

BESE is expected to adopt the tougher standards at its October meeting.

White said one factor that will play a more significant role is whether the academic curriculum is “equal to what is expected of public schools.” Also, teaching methods and effectiveness will play a more significant role.

It’s just a flat-out lie. Regardless of how BESE votes, this is already required by the Louisiana State Constitution. And so is auditing.

Put another way, John White is essentially saying that, after months of not doing his job, he’s now thinking about it. Somehow, this makes him “tough,” and somehow, fortunately for him, Louisiana’s mainstream media is too lazy and too underfunded to report otherwise.

 

Bobby Jindal and John White’s Voucher Scam Violates the Louisiana State Constitution (And They Know It) 3

Education

Yesterday, Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White announced “tougher standards” for private schools that qualify for and accept voucher funding “were coming.” And while the media may attempt to spin this as an accountability measure that favors Superintendent White, it is, without question, the most blatant admission the voucher program he and Governor Bobby Jindal have championed is in clear violation of the Louisiana State Constitution and many of the schools approved for taxpayer funding should have never been considered.

Here’s the critical issue (bold mine):

The Louisiana Constitution requires that to get state approval, a nonpublic school must have a curriculum at least as strong as the state’s. The state, however, can’t dictate what is taught.

White said he’s considering a graduated scale for the approval process that allows larger schools that are accredited by an independent agency, such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, to receive a less stringent review. Accreditation by a panel somewhat associated with a school would not fit that category.

Section VII, Section IV:

§4. Approval of Private Schools

Section 4. Upon application by a private elementary, secondary, or proprietary school with a sustained curriculum or specialized course of study of quality at least equal to that prescribed for similar public schools, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall approve the private school. A certificate issued by an approved private school shall carry the same privileges as one issued by a state public school.

There is no possible way that Superintendent White or any other elected or appointed official can honestly argue that schools like New Living Word in Ruston or Cenla Christian Academy in Pineville, among others, offer a curriculum “as strong as the state’s,” regardless of the “accrediting body” upon which they may rely. Schools that offer ACE, Bob Jones University, and/or ABeka curricula are inherently, indeed purposely, not as strong or as rigorous. Considering that the vast majority of private colleges and universities in the country and the entire public university system in the State of California can, by law, reject college applicants on the basis of the strength and merits of the coursework they took in high school, many of the schools that Superintendent John White approved for taxpayer funding under Bobby Jindal’s voucher program are in violation of the Louisiana State Constitution.

It’s open and shut.

And that, I imagine, is why Superintendent White is now frantically attempting to change the standards for private schools, to make it appear to the media and the public as if he has suddenly decided to get “tougher.”

How much tougher? That is not disclosed.

Let’s face it: The entire program has been exposed as a scam, a mega-million dollar giveaway of taxpayer dollars to fly-by-night, get-rich-quick operators and struggling far-right and religiously conservative education profiteers who seek to exploit the program to change their bottom lines. Jindal’s voucher program isn’t the one that he’d like to believe he’s selling: It’s not concerned with providing working class, inner-city families the ability to take their child out of a failing school and place them into a thriving private or parochial school. Instead, the program was conceived more like a venture capitalist experiment: They’ve never been concerned with actually giving families the money for these vouchers; they’ve been far more concerned with the ways in which they can allot voucher funding to a pre-selected number of schools for a pre-selected number of spots to support and fund an entirely new creation(something which likely violates the Lemon Test of the US Supreme Court on at least three different levels).

But regardless, this, interestingly, doesn’t even touch the Establishment Clause arguments– that is, vouchers are unduly violating the separation of church and state. This is much more simple: This is about the strength of curriculum. If private schools aren’t as rigorous as public schools, then they are not entitled to public money, per the Louisiana STATE Constitution. And to be honest, though it’s an argument that seems to have snuck on them, it’s one that many of their opponents have kept in their back pockets, which explains, in part, Superintendent Whites’s response.

Thompson-Hargis Mansion, One of Louisiana’s Most Endangered Properties, Destroyed By A Major Fire 1

Downtown Alexandria, Local Political News

Update: Alexandria Police have taken a 13-year-old girl into custody and suspect that she may be responsible for setting this home on fire.

Three hours ago, Alexandria firefighters responded to a major fire at the Thompson-Hargis mansion on Florence Avenue.

The home, which anchored an area known colloquially as “Mansion Row,” was listed as one of Louisiana’s most endangered historic properties. Quoting:

Built in 1907, the grand Thompson-Hargis Mansion in Alexandria is a fine example of Greek Revival residential architecture, a style that remained popular and fashionable well into the 20th Century. It is regarded as one of the finest homes in Alexandria, one of four within a two-block area known as “Mansion Row.”

The home was occupied by descendants of the original owners. Mr. And Mrs. B.F. Thompson, Sr., until 1993 and is still owned by the family. Unoccupied for almost 15 years, the home is threatened by severe neglect. Surrounded by deteriorating bungalows built in the early 1900s, preservation of the Thompson-Hargis Mansion would be the catalyst to revitalization of the entire Florence Avenue area.

Democratic National Convention Exceeding Expectations Reply

Disability Rights, Downtown Alexandria, Education, Health Care, Humor, Local Political News, Media Studies, National News, Self-referential drivel, Social Activism, Today's News

For those you have you that weren’t able to truly break through the wall-to-wall pundits and hear the unfiltered truth,  here you go:

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Coco, Still Cuckoo for Coco Puffs, Crows City Council Conspiracy 1

Humor

As faithful readers know, I’ve never been a fan of Steve Coco, the former Rapides Parish Police Juror and semi-professional teleprompter reader. A few years ago, Mr. Coco, a Republican, after retiring as an evening news anchor from the local NBC affiliate, launched a website, cenlanews.com, generously and hilariously calling himself “Central Louisiana’s most qualified, experienced news source.” Since its inception, Mr. Coco’s website has been continuously plagued by the facts and has been largely concerned with his own personal vendettas. It’s never been a news site, and even as a blog, it’s not particularly well-written or clever.

Steve Coco Actually Posed For And Then Published This Photo Of Himself. Seriously.

Ordinarily, it would have been easy enough to ignore, except that in Central Louisiana, Steve Coco, by virtue of his on-camera job with KALB-TV, is widely-known as a personality. And, more importantly, until his recent defeat, Steve Coco was an elected member of the Rapides Parish Police Jury, representing part of the City of Alexandria. And now, Steve Coco is running to become Alexandria’s next at-large member of the City Council.

To be sure, I’ve never considered Mr. Coco a credible journalist, but because he was an elected official who published his very own “news” website, I’ve paid attention. (It’s worth noting that Coco’s first campaign appears to have been funded, almost entirely, by his girlfriend at the time and that he won that election by only two votes).

Mr. Coco’s brief stint on the Police Jury was utterly unremarkable. During his four years, he didn’t introduce a single piece of meaningful legislation and apparently spent quite a bit of time with the late Greg Aymond, a controversial and often incendiary blogger and former member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Mr. Coco also spent a lot of time hammering out missives on his website. Among my personal favorites, he reported that the National Association of County Officials had published an (obviously-doctored) photograph of President Obama smoking a cigarette, writing:

Since blatant ignorance reigns unchecked in Cenla, here’s background information on this photo of Barack Obama (The White House Marlboro Man).

Several people continue to claim the picture is a fake. Evidently they believe it’s impossible that there’s any evidence of Obama having a cigarette in his mouth and that he could be smoking in the White House and aboard Air Force One. This picture was published by NACO, the National Association of Counties, founded in 1935. NACO’s membership totals more than 2-thousand counties, representing over 80% of the nation’s population. NACO headquarters is on Capitol Hill, publishing a biweekly newspaper, County News, that focuses on issues and actions in Washington, D.C. and around the Country.

NACO officials meet regularly with the President at the White House. Maybe that’s where they took the picture.

If you still think the picture’s a fake, prove otherwise.

So, here’s what I did: I contacted the President of NACo, and she wrote me back. She’d never even seen the photo Mr. Coco had published and attributed to her organization until I sent it to her. It’s no secret that President Obama, like John Boehner, was a smoker. The story was that an elected official claimed that the National Association of Counties had verified the authenticity of a doctored photograph of the President of the United States and then distributed it to its members; Mr. Coco, then an elected official, was unwittingly calling into question the integrity and the credibility of a venerable public service organization. And he was absolutely wrong. It was amateurish.

Mr. Coco, as a Police Juror, also fought, at least initially, to ensure that federal disaster relief funds distributed to Rapides Parish in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav would disproportionately benefit the least-affected areas, and as far as I can gather, his position at the time had nothing to do with policy and everything to do with his disdain for Mayor Jacques Roy, who was fighting to ensure an equitable dispersement of funds. Again, Mr. Coco was absolutely wrong, and again, it was amateurish.

And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention how Steve Coco once publicly called on me to be fired for having the audacity to truthfully report that he, as a public official, had been receiving gratuitous radio time and advertisements. I suggested that he was an “unpaid employee” of the radio station with which he was associated, and Mr. Coco shot back, challenging me to offer proof. It was easy enough: I simply had to direct Mr. Coco to his own campaign finance disclosure forms.

I’ve called him out in the past, and I’m more than happy to continue calling him out: Mr. Coco is not fit to serve on the Alexandria City Council. He is a self-aggrandizing hack, an insult to anyone who believes in journalistic integrity, and a man who has repeatedly and publicly lied about basic facts. And I know I sound harsh, but here’s why: Yesterday, only a few days after he qualified to run for Alexandria City Council, Steve Coco took to his website and suggested that there were widespread rumors that my friend and former boss, Mayor Jacques Roy, is “distracted by some serious personal problems.“

Pardon my French, but Steve Coco: You are full of shit. I’ve always known you’re full of shit, but this really takes the cake: Floating the rumor that Jacques Roy has “serious personal problems” in order to brandish your own candidacy for City Council. It’s shameful, despicable even.

Unlike Steve Coco, I actually know Jacques. He’s family to me. Even though I’ve been in Dallas for over a year, we still talk at least once a week. I went on vacation with him and his family a couple of months ago, something I’ve done every year for the last five years. You, Mr. Coco, don’t know what you’re talking about, and publicly accusing someone of suffering from “serious personal problems” is a mighty strong accusation. It’s high-time that someone finally disputes the bullshit rumors that you and Greg Aymond have attempted to float throughout the last few years and to call you out for what you really are: Just like Mr. Aymond, you are a divisive, mean-spirited liar, a sophomoric and sloppy writer, and an intellectual lightweight.

And in November, we’ll remember, once again, that Steve Coco is also something else: A loser.

A User’s Guide to Governor Bobby Jindal’s School Voucher Program 13

Education

Six months ago, when Governor Bobby Jindal began rolling out his education reform initiative, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial praising Jindal’s ambitious agenda, comparing it, earnestly, with then-Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s vision of an American colony on the moon. The paper called Jindal’s proposals on education reform his “moon shot,” providing me with the perfect opportunity to write a post titled “Bobby Jindal Is Mooning Louisiana.” “Bobby Jindal Is Mooning Louisiana” quickly became the most popular post I’ve ever written, and, to me, it was a clear sign that Governor Jindal’s agenda, while praised by his friends on the right and in the conservative media, was likely to become hugely controversial.

At the time, I was concerned that Governor Jindal’s critics were readily playing right into his hands. While Jindal and his hand-selected Superintendent of Education, John White, were attempting to pass the nation’s largest-ever school voucher program, many of his critics were seemingly more concerned with the Governor’s plans for tenure reform, which allowed Jindal to easily deflect the substantive questions about privatization and focus, instead, on counterattacking teachers unions as more concerned with money than school children. It was, without question, an unfair and offensive depiction, and I have to believe that many of his critics, including the leaders of those teachers unions who were suddenly being defined by the Governor and members of his administration as uncaring and self-interested, were caught off-guard by the Governor questioning their integrity. After all, when Bobby Jindal was on the campaign trail, he paid lip-service to the need to increase teacher salaries, which remain among the lowest in the nation.

But as I wrote back in February and as I continue to believe today, with all due respect to our fine teachers, the real threat that Governor Bobby Jindal’s plan poses to public education has very little to do with his efforts to change the teacher-pay matrix and the ways in which we award tenure; the real threat is that Jindal intends on using taxpayer dollars to create a parallel, unaccountable, privately-owned, profit-motivated system of religious schools. And by divesting tens of millions from the public school system and investing these public dollars into religious schools, Governor Jindal’s program will guarantee the firing of hundreds, if not thousands, of Louisiana teachers. Already, Lincoln Parish has announced the layoffs of thirty public school teachers as a direct result of the voucher program.

Importantly, these religious schools are not constrained by the teacher qualification requirements imposed on public schools; that is, teachers in private schools, who are typically paid less than their public school counterparts, aren’t required to be certified or even knowledgeable in their subject matter. Moreover, these religious schools do not have to adhere to the same core curriculum that Louisiana requires for its public schools.

In ostensibly attempting to establish a program that allegedly would provide parents with the opportunity to use public dollars to remove their child from a struggling or “failing” public school, Governor Bobby Jindal and Superintendent John White have actually facilitated the creation of a separate and unequal system of religious schools, schools that are not held to any real accountability, schools that are not required to employ certified teachers, schools that do not have to adhere to the same curriculum standards. And in so doing, Governor Jindal and Superintendent White are ensuring a substantial disinvestment from the public schools most in need and the elimination of hundreds of jobs. Under this scheme, the failure of public schools becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

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But that is only one part of the story. Policy and ideological objections to school vouchers aren’t new, and they’ve been debated and litigated all over the country, with mixed results. There’s something strikingly unique about Bobby Jindal’s plan. When it was up for debate in the Louisiana legislature, Governor Jindal and his allies ensured that his critics were all but shut out of the debate; they relied on procedural maneuvers to pass the bulk of his plan in the middle of the night. And once passed and signed into law, Governor Jindal and Superintendent White began implementing this plan in a way that could only be described as embarrassingly incompetent.

They didn’t think it was necessary to enforce standards for the schools they qualified for funding. The process became a free-for-all, with fly-by-night schools applying and then being qualified for millions in taxpayer subsidization, without ever being subjected to any scrutiny whatsoever.

When Superintendent White published the list of the schools that had qualified for voucher funding, the story suddenly began to take shape. My friends at The Daily Kingfish were actually the very first to report on the fact that the overwhelming majority of voucher funding was awarded to schools created by or associated with a church, 92% in total. It took the mainstream media over a month to catch up.

And then, a funny thing happened: We started really investigating the schools on the list. The Monroe News-Star broke the story of the New Living Word School, which received more voucher spots than any other school in the state and which relies on DVDs instead of teachers and is housed in a church gymnasium. John White approved increasing New Living Word’s enrollment by 258%, without ever even stepping foot in its campus. A few days ago, we learned that New Living Word, in order to accommodate the massive influx of new students, will be dividing its chapel into four classrooms.

After the story made national headlines, leaked e-mails revealed that Superintendent White had proposed to his colleagues that they create a news story about the process by which schools qualified for vouchers in order to “muddy up the narrative.” In almost any other state, the explicit acknowledgment by the head of a state agency to manufacture a false story to the public would be grounds for termination, but John White kept his job. And, instead of apologizing, he feigned outrage that his private e-mails had been released to the media.

About a week after the New Living Word story broke, The Town Talk reported that another school that Superintendent White had qualified for $400,000 in vouchers was led, in part, by a woman who previously pled guilty to extorting thousands of dollars from the school.  That school, thankfully, has subsequently been disqualified.

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The slow drip of the news about the merits of these voucher schools piqued my interest, and it also piqued the interest of my friend Zack Kopplin, the Baton Rouge native who is currently a sophomore at my alma mater (and his parents’s alma mater), Rice University.  We swapped stories, including this one, which was published on AlterNet on June 18th. According to AlterNet, some of the schools that had qualified for vouchers in Louisiana were using textbooks that advanced, among other things, the idea that the Loch Ness monster was alive and well and that, therefore, its existence disproved the theory of evolution.

Zack, for those of you who don’t know, had previously made national and even international news, as a high school student, for challenging the Louisiana Science Education Act, a pernicious piece of legislation, endorsed by Governor Jindal, that implicitly allows the teaching of new earth creationism in the science classroom. When Zack read about the textbooks that some of these voucher schools were using, he immediately recognized the implications. I sent him a link to John White’s “master list” of approved voucher schools, a list that, only a few days ago, was taken offline, and he spent the next week parsing the list, identifying schools that raised suspicion, and then exhaustively researching each and every one of those schools.

The more he uncovered, the more obvious it became that he was sitting on a much bigger story than AlterNet had initially reported. And for me, it also raised some serious questions: I have no doubt that Zack is a preternaturally smart and savvy guy, but here’s a 19-year-old college sophomore on summer break conducting the due diligence on voucher schools that should have already been done, months beforehand, by the Louisiana Superintendent of Education and his staff. Zack found that at least twenty of the approved schools teach new earth creationism instead of science, but, truthfully, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Many, if not most, of these schools advance a virulently anti-scientific curriculum. And most disturbingly, if a student objects, many of them reserve the right to expel the student on religious grounds, meaning that these schools, literally, will be pocketing taxpayer funding from students against whom they will discriminate on the basis of religion. It’s a foregone conclusion: Under Jindal’s plan, we will be spending public dollars to help prop-up schools that discriminate against students because of their religion.

This, most assuredly, is not the country that Thomas Jefferson envisioned when he wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

Religious discrimination is not the only issue. Schools may also discriminate against students on the basis of sexual orientation. And because voucher schools are not required to accommodate disabled students and students with special needs, many worry that the program will ultimately create a unconstitutional “separate” education system for the disabled.

After Zack published his findings (which were immediately republished here and on The Daily Kingfish), it took around a week for the mainstream media to pay attention, but once they did, they were relentless. And there are no signs of letting up.

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Superintendent John White, however, would, understandably, prefer to change the subject as quickly as humanly possible. He doesn’t want to admit that he and his entire department completely and utterly failed to properly scrutinize the schools they qualified for massive taxpayer subsidization. While arguing that he simply wants to ensure that parents are armed with all of the information needed to provide them with the ability to make a “choice” on their child’s education, Superintendent John White has removed the list of schools that he qualified for vouchers from the Department of Education’s website, and currently, he is refusing to cooperate with the request for records pertaining to his selection process. He’s also been accused of subverting the state’s open meetings laws by improperly participating “walking quorums” with BESE board members.  Again, in almost any other state in the country, this man would have already been fired, but this is Bobby Jindal’s Louisiana; he’s Bobby Jindal’s Superintendent, and this is Bobby Jindal’s “moon shot.”

A few days ago, after the Louisiana Supreme Court refused to grant an injunction against the voucher program, John White quickly declared moral and legal victory, when anyone with a shred of honesty and an ounce of integrity would readily recognize that the court’s refusal had nothing to do with the merits of vouchers and was based, entirely, on John White’s disingenuous affidavit that an injunction would create a $3.4 billion deficit. I wrote about this a couple of days ago, and yesterday, Mike Hasten of Gannett backed me up.

Yesterday, we also learned that Superintendent White is finally acknowledging the need to more thoroughly scrutinize the private schools he approved for voucher funding, telling Mr. Hasten, “Conditions have changed such that the nonpublic approval process now has greater importance.” Nothing about these schools has changed; the only conditions that changed, as far as I can tell, is that John White’s decisions have been repeatedly criticized by the state and national media.

In the last two weeks, not only has this story been the subject of headline articles in every major news publication in the State of Louisiana, it’s also been featured in The Washington Post, Esquire Magazine, The Huffington Post, “Hardball” with Chris Matthews on MSNBC, the Associated Press, and Reuters. In addition, the story was also picked up by prominent education policy scholar Diane Ravitch,  Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, LSU professor Bob Mann, and the website Above the Law, among others.

The coverage has been intense and interesting, and with only a couple of minor corrections, the national coverage has been, for the most part pitch-perfect.

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As awesome as I think it is that Zack’s research on creationist schools and my research on the profiteering prophet (which inspired a brilliant and hilarious editorial by Clancy DuBos of The Gambit and another great report by Lafayette’s The Independent Weekly) have made statewide and national news, it also worries me. Again, if a couple of college students on summer break can easily learn more about the schools that qualified for public subsidization than the department that approved them for funding, then, clearly, our leaders and elected officials are not doing their jobs.

In Louisiana, when people attempt to divert attention or weasel their way out, we call it “crawfishing.” And apparently, Governor Jindal and Superintendent White, just like crawfish, prefer muddied waters.