Gov. Bobby Jindal’s “run” for another term is shaping to be more of a stroll. With only today left to register for the race, the only thing serious about his declared opponents is their serious lack of funding.
Before officially registering to run this week, Jindal released his first campaign ad praising his job creation achievements.
This is predictable, given the current mood of his base, but I wonder how Jindal would fare if he was forced to sell his higher education leadership credentials.
Over the past three years, gigantic deficits in the state budget have caused the word “crisis” to be tossed about with little discretion in regards to higher education.
Indeed these years have seen campuses like our own take multi-million-dollar hits to state appropriated funding.
One can’t wholly pin blame for the statewide budget crisis on Jindal’s policies, though championing the repeal of hundreds of millions in tax revenues tied to the Stelly Tax, coupled with his vain intransigence in regards to any new taxes, certainly didn’t help the situation.
This again is understandable in a state in which citizens’ greatest fear is any governmental encroachment on their daily bread.
The problem is Jindal’s willingness to let higher education flounder with no concrete path to necessary reform, while forcing students to float state funding shortcomings.
In the fall of each year, higher education officials are left to project and speculate over doomsday scenarios for the coming fiscal year. For example, last year, University administrators were needlessly asked to stew over potential decreases in the neighborhood of 30 percent.
This uncertainty, stemming from a lack of pronounced state leadership and intent frightens potential students and exasperates current instructors who can be wooed away by a university that’s actually able to give pay increases.
Such floundering led to Jindal’s second-largest public embarrassment when a letter rebuking Jindal’s lack of leadership for education penned by former Student Government President J Hudson gained national attention.
Jindal responded via Facebook, stating: “Our government is spending more than we can afford, and I believe our universities are delivering less value than you