Jindal calls for changes
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Gov. Bobby Jindal called for sweeping changes Tuesday in how teachers are paid and evaluated and for an expansion of state aid for students to attend private and parochial schools.
“Make no mistake, this is the most important thing we can do to improve the quality of life for our children and our state,” Jindal said of his 2012 public schools agenda.
However, his proposal to change the way public school teachers are paid and rated is sure to be controversial during the legislative session, which begins on March 12.
The governor spelled out his plans during a 30-minute speech at the annual meeting of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and in comments to reporters afterwards.
Jindal said he wants to:
- Allow local school districts to pay top-flight teachers more and block pay hikes for those considered ineffective.
- Ensure that current teachers are stripped of their certification if they are rated as ineffective for three years.
- Require new teachers to be rated as “highly effective” for five years in a row before they earn tenure. Tenure is designed to protect educators against unfair firings.
Under current rules, teachers typically get tenure after three years in the classroom unless they encounter major problems.
Jindal said the change would “make tenure an active process rather than an automatic one” and a reward for good work, not that teachers “merely survived for three years.”
“This is a bold plan and a signal to teachers at all career stages that help is on the way,” he said.
But a teacher union leader criticized efforts to change tenure rules, which she called unnecessary.
“All it is, is your day in court,” said Joyce Haynes, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators.
“They have earned it,” Haynes said of teachers.
In another area, Jindal called for the expansion of Louisiana’s school “scholarship” program, also called “vouchers,” which provides state tax dollar payments for low-income students attending low-performing public schools so they can attend private or parochial schools instead.
The new rules would apply to students from low-income families if they attend schools rated “C,” “D” or “F” under the state’s new school rating system, which began last year.
What the expansion would cost is unclear.
Jindal told reporters after his speech that such aid is less than public school students typically get through the Minimum Foundation Program, called MFP, and could mean savings for the state.
“If you look at MFP dollars versus the scholarship program it is more than $4,000 cheaper,” he said of per student spending.
About 72 percent of public schools were given a “C,” “D” or “F” last year, aides to the governor said.
Exactly how many students at those schools would meet income rules, and be eligible for the state aid, is unclear.
Critics say the aid, which they call vouchers, is a drain of state dollars to public schools.
But Danny Loar, executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, praised the governor’s proposal.
“We definitely support it,” Loar said. “We think that children should not be trapped in failing schools and parents should have the ability to take them to a good school, whether it is a charter school, public school or private school.”
Jindal said students who get the aid would be subject to the same tests given to public school students, such as LEAP and iLEAP.
The governor also said he wants to end the use of seniority in making school personnel decisions, including layoffs.
He also wants to let local school districts set their own pay scales for new teachers based on subjects taught and other issues.
Jindal said too often all teachers are treated the same, regardless of performance.
“This has to stop,” he said. “We’re going to run our education system and our economy into the ground unless we reform this backwards structure today.”
In another area, Jindal said he wants nonprofit groups and others to apply directly to the state to open charter schools, which are public classrooms run by non-governmental boards.
Under current rules, such groups have to first seek approval from local school boards, which are often hostile to such proposals.
Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, was unavailable for comment on Tuesday.
Les Landon, spokesman for the group, criticized Jindal’s suggestion that tenured teachers can only lose their jobs if they are caught selling drugs, or something similar.
“It is unfortunate that the tone of the governor’s speech was so offensive to teachers,” Landon said.
He said the LFT will also oppose the governor’s plan to expand state aid for some students to attend private and parochial schools.
Brigitte Nieland, a vice president of LABI, praised Jindal’s school plans, including efforts to link a teacher’s job status to how they fare under Louisiana’s new annual evaluation law and more “scholarships” for low-income students.
“I think, if this bill passes, consumers will have more options than they have ever had before in this state,” Nieland said.
Jindal also proposed that:
- Students who graduate from high school early get a postsecondary scholarship equal to half of what the state would have spent on them if they had remained in high school.
- Parents be allowed to initiate state takeovers of failing schools.
- The state set up an accountability program for early childhood classes.