Gov. Jindal Focuses on Louisiana Education Initiatives

LAFAYETTE– Today, Governor Bobby Jindal was joined by Representative Don Trahan and other local legislators and elected officials to highlight the educational reforms passed in the recently concluded regular session. The focus of gathering and press event was to outline the education issues and legislation. Much of the legislation passed this session dealt with charter schools. Here is a press release by the Jindal Administration concerning the "education event".

Governor Jindal said, “We made some incredible reforms in education this session, with the help of Representative Trahan and others. We raised teacher pay by $1,000, invested more than $12 million into our Literacy and Numeracy initiative, passed a Teachers’ Bill of Rights, and passed a law to keep teachers from having to fill out burdensome, duplicative paperwork.

“We also invested $10 million in Flexible Pay for Rural School Districts and fully funded the funding formula for colleges and universities. For charter schools, we increased the cap on charter schools from 42 to 70, provided for for-profit charter school operators to operate public schools, extended leaves of absence for teachers who are temporarily employed in charter schools from three to five years, and BESE has been given greater flexibility to renew charter schools for shorter periods of time. We have more work to do to ensure we provide our children with the best education possible, but the victories in this session were a solid step forward toward that goal on many fronts.”

Representative Don Trahan said, “As we work to improve low-performing schools with the public domain, we must open the door to innovative practices that will help our students succeed. Charter schools offer many proven educational models that can help turn around failing schools and teach us how to improve other traditional public schools around the state. While I have always said that the state taking over public schools should be a last resort, we cannot stand by and watch our children fall further and further behind. We owe it to our students to commit to pursuing every opportunity that might bring them success. These bills will enable Louisiana to deliver on that promise.”

Today, the Governor also spoke about the importance of preparing high school students for college, and the administration-sponsored bills passed in the session to expand dual enrollment to allow high school courses to translate into college credits. The Governor said that dual enrollment offers students the ability to take college-level courses while still enrolled in high school and thus reduces the number of remedial courses they may need later to give them a jump-start on their technical or academic studies.

Additionally, the Governor highlighted that from the work in the session, an additional $90 million in funding is going toward the state’s Minimum Foundation Program for public elementary and secondary schools, and higher education institutions were fully funded with an additional $35 million.

Jindal Highlights Educational Achievements in the Regular Session

The Governor highlighted the following legislation at his event today and spoke about the importance of each bill in helping to make Louisiana the best place in the world to raise a family, get a quality education and pursue a great career, so Louisiana children do not have to leave home to follow their dreams:

House Bill 672 - Representative Don Trahan

This legislation establishes the Teachers’ Bill of Rights as a listing of rights and authorities conferred upon our educators. Each school system will be required to post a copy of this Teachers’ Bill of Rights in every school and administrative building it operates and on school websites, and a copy must be provided to parents or legal guardians of all children attending its schools. These include teachers’ rights to:

· appropriately discipline students;

· remove persistently disruptive students from the classroom and involve parents in disciplinary decisions;

· have their professional judgment and discretion respected with regard to disciplinary actions taken;

· be treated with civility and respect;

· be free from excessively burdensome disciplinary paperwork;

· receive leadership and support from a qualified, experienced mentor; and

· have qualified immunity and legal defense.

House Bill 657 - Representative Don Trahan

This bill prohibits school employees from being required by any school board, the Department of Education, or BESE, to complete paperwork if the information provided for in such paperwork is reasonably and readily available from another source.

Senate Bill 548 - Senator Ben Nevers

This bill requires local school boards to conduct exit interviews of teachers who leave their employment to determine their reasons for leaving and to gather information that could be used to develop strategies to improve teacher retention in our classrooms. (BESE will convene a task force this fall to assist in developing forms and questions to be utilized in these interviews, and the information gathered will be done in a way that assures complete anonymity and confidentiality for the teacher.)

House Bill 321 - Representative Don Trahan

This bill increases the number of charter schools permitted in the state from 42 to 70, opening the door to more schools being opened or converted to meet the needs of students across Louisiana.

House Bill 1105 - Representative Don Trahan

This bill establishes a 2% maximum on charter administrative expenses; and under this legislation, school boards and charter schools may continue to enter into agreements to pay for other needed services such as transportation and meals. Currently, Louisiana has no uniform amount set for what local school boards or BESE may withhold from charter schools for administrative expenses, and this would make that process more predictable.

House Bill 349 - Representative Don Trahan

This legislation extends greater flexibility to BESE and local school boards when renewing charters. Currently, charter schools are approved for an initial five-year period and then can only be approved for ten-year renewals. Charter schools that are performing well, but are addressing areas in need of improvement, may not qualify for a ten-year renewal. This legislation allows charters to be renewed for a period of up to ten years, with a minimum of three years, instead of ten-year periods only. This change will allow us to keep the doors of good charter schools open, improve those with any deficiencies, and ultimately make charter schools more accountable for results.

House Bill 350 - Representative Walt Leger

This bill allows for-profit providers to operate schools under the jurisdiction of the Recovery School District (RSD). These providers will still be subject to the same rigorous application and review process, and held to the same expectations.

Senate Bill 482 - Senator Bill Cassidy

This legislation extends dual enrollment to students attending private schools or enrolled in home study programs at no cost to the state. Students will be able to enroll in the same courses for the same amount that the state pays for public students to participate.

House Bill 537 - Senator Ben Nevers

This legislation provides for the articulation of high school credits to Louisiana colleges and universities and course articulation between all institutions of public postsecondary education by July 1, 2010. Earning college credits will encourage students to continue their education beyond high school graduation and minimize problems with course credit when students have to transfer from one college to another.

House Concurrent Resolution 114 - Representative Trahan

This resolution urges and requests the Board of Regents to allocate 15% of funding to colleges and universities through the higher education funding formula based on performance. These performance standards may include, but are not limited to, improvements in student retention and graduation rates and increases in the amounts of external funding generated by institutions as compared to their peers.

House Concurrent Resolution 65 - Speaker Jim Tucker & Senate Concurrent Resolution 46 - President Joel Chaisson

These two resolutions urge and request the Board of Regents to consider specific factors related to workforce development when allocating funds to institutions in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS). These institutions play a critical role in our state’s workforce development strategy. They training students to meet the needs of Louisiana employers and filling vacant jobs around the state, and this funding formula will further help our high education facilities to train a skilled workforce that meets the changing needs of businesses.

EDUCATION FUNDING INITIATIVES

· $90 million more ($ 3.2 billion total) for the Minimum Foundation Program

· Teacher Pay Raise Funding so teachers will get an average raise of $1,019

· $10 million in flexible pay for Rural School Districts

· $10 million for Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence program

· $12.3 million for Literacy and Numeracy initiative

· $8.5 million for Recovery School District extended day programs

· $4.5 million for high school career and technical education courses

· $2.9 million for alternative schools

· $1 million more for Jobs for America’s Graduates dropout prevention program

· $800,000 for a principal leadership program to help turn around failing schools

· Full formula funding for every college and university ($34.7 million)

· $10 million for workforce training at two-year institutions

· $4 million to support dual enrollment programs

· $8 million for endowed chairs and professorships (in supplemental for 07-08)

· Continued funding of TOPS and Go Grants, the state’s need-based financial aid program

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