After witnessing Gov. Bobby Jindal mismanage Louisiana education for the last few years and the anger he spurred across the state, you’d think the governor might try to get back on his constituents’ good side.
But he obviously has other plans.
Five months into his second term, Jindal has ordered higher education officials not to complain to him, fired an outspoken public official and pissed off nearly every public school teacher in the state.
The first big mishap occurred Feb. 9, when Jindal unveiled his 2012-13 spending plan for Louisiana. That same day, LSU System President John Lombardi wrote an e-mail to higher education officials, informing them Jindal expects gratitude and wants no “negative messages about higher ed funding this year.”
Basically, Jindal doesn’t want to hear your complaints.
Why? Probably because he doesn’t care.
Part of a democratic decision-making process is to accept and consider criticism, not refuse to receive it. How can we point out flaws if Jindal won’t accept any criticism?
Strike one.
On March 7, Jindal fired Martha Manuel, the state’s executive director of the department of elderly affairs, the morning after she spoke out against his plan to move the Office of Elderly Affairs from the Governor’s Office to the Department of Health and Hospitals.
Jindal’s reasoning: Manuel’s logic was “not in line” with his thinking.
In another instance, The Huffington Post reported Jindal suddenly fired Melody Teague, head of elderly affairs, in 2009 on the grounds of poor performance in handling the state’s food stamps in the wake of Hurricane Katrina – which was four years earlier.
Interestingly, she had spoken out against his policies in a forum the day before she was fired.
Coincidence?
Those aren’t the only two times Dictator Jindal has fired his critics. In 2008, he dismissed James Champagne, former executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, after he and Jindal disagreed on motorcycle helmet laws.
Strike two, Bobby.
With these actions, Jindal has proven he simply won’t deal with critics. He’ll fire them if he can.
I’m glad I don’t work for Jindal. I’d probably lose my job over this column.
Most recently, Jindal has ignored teachers’ dire concerns regarding his education plan.
If you’ve paid any attention to the news lately, you know public schools in some areas were shut down for two days last week because so many teachers went to protest at the Capitol.
I think we can accurately say they feel passionate about this cause, and it’s completely warranted.
The teachers are mostly opposing two parts of Jindal’s education plan.
One part will create a voucher system for students who live in districts where public schools are rated a C or lower to go to private schools.
This essentially makes private schools become public, and will only help a few people. Private schools won’t be able to accept all the students, and some districts won’t even have the option.
Another part of the plan will basically eliminate tenure for teachers. A quick look at the bill validates teachers’ worries.
Now, teachers can receive tenure if they get “satisfactory” evaluations three years in a row. Under the new bill, teachers must get “highly effective” evaluations five years in a row.
The evaluations are based on how students perform on a standardized test at the end of the year.
You can be a good teacher and still have bad students. This bill holds teachers responsible for underachievers.
Unfortunately, teachers can’t force every child to learn – some children just don’t want to. Brown University, the governor’s alma mater, should have taught Jindal that.
Jindal introduced the plan March 13 and has been accused of forcing it through the Legislature quickly so it won’t be reviewed.
Rep. James Armes told the Leesville Daily Leader he has never seen a bill pushed so fast through the legislative session.
He also brought up another good point. The bill was brought before the House of Representatives on Tuesday, which is conveniently the scheduled day for the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) in the state’s public schools.
Teachers couldn’t travel to protest on Tuesday, once again fulfilling Jindal’s desire to ignore criticism.
Strike three, Führer.
Overall, Jindal has proven his disregard for his constituents again. Except this time it’s only taken him five months in office.
Like I said earlier, a democracy only works when leaders accept citizens’ criticism. Without it, we’re looking at a dictatorship, similar to the way Huey P. Long ran Louisiana in the 1930s.
And it looks like Jindal’s heading down that road.
Chris Grillot is a 20-year-old English and mass communication senior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_cgrillot.
—-
Contact Chris Grillot at [email protected]