Jindal, teachers’ unions hear different meeting
While Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday he sees common ground, the leaders of two teacher unions disputed some of Jindal’s possible plans to improve public schools in 2012.
“The elections are over,” Jindal told reporters. “It is time for us to work together and move forward.”
But leaders of the Louisiana Association of Educators, called LAE, and the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, or LFT, took a different view after a closed-door meeting with the governor and others. Both teacher unions have clashed with Jindal in the past over policies and politics.
“I didn’t like a lot of what I heard,” said LAE President Joyce Haynes. “My heart was broken and my Christmas was basically ruined, but I hope for more conversation.”
LFT President Steve Monaghan said that, while most of the meeting focused on general themes, he is concerned that Jindal will push plans that drain resources away from traditional public schools.
Monaghan said he came away with the feeling that one Jindal priority during the 2012 legislative session may be some sort of expansion of vouchers – state aid to help parents pay for private or parochial school tuition.
“The major concern is that, in a tight financial construct, which we know we are going to be in, the dollars that will be siphoned away from those schools left behind will be significant,” Monaghan said after the meeting.
The gathering at the Governor’s Mansion on Thursday afternoon was the latest in a series of get-togethers with lawmakers, education officials and parents before he spells out his 2012 public schools agenda next month.
The governor officially begins his second term on Jan. 9.
Jindal said earlier that improved teacher quality, more school choices and giving local educators new flexibility in how dollars are spent will be his key themes.
He has not spelled out details of his package.
The governor has said that the parents of children “trapped in failing schools” deserve more options, and that working with two teacher unions that often oppose his plans is a viable option. “I think there are many areas where we find common ground,” he said.
Jindal singled out the LFT, which he noted worked with his administration on an earlier bid for federal dollars in a contest called “Race To The Top” and in the development of a 2010 law that will link half of a teacher’s annual evaluation to the growth of student achievement.
“They haven’t agreed with every aspect or details of those proposals but they have made constructive suggestions, worked with us,” Jindal said of LFT officials.
“I know there will be other areas where we find agreement,” Jindal said.
LFT officials criticized the final version of the evaluation law and Monaghan has disputed some of the key elements in how it will be implemented.
Monaghan said Thursday he has concerns about any new effort to use tax dollars to help pay for children to opt out of traditional public schools, as if private classrooms are preferable “by some magic stroke.”
Haynes, who said Thursday’s meeting marked the first time she had met with Jindal at the Governor’s Mansion, said the governor went out of his way to be cordial.
But she said renewed interest in vouchers and charter schools is troubling.
She renewed the LAE’s long-standing opposition to the new teacher evaluations, which will begin with the 2012-13 school year.
“I seem them punishing and demoralizing teachers and failing our children with a standardized test,” Haynes said.
Jindal said he is confident his public school plans will win bipartisan support in the Legislature.
The 2012 regular legislative session begins on March 12.