Tuition bill expanded in House, Jindal's bill approved by Senate

In addition to tuition, the House version of the bill that Jindal has been touting will now also include tax breaks for uniforms. At least this will also apply to public school parents, so it does make some sense if you assume that the tax breaks should be made in the first place. (After all, I would argue that public school parents are more in need of some kind of break than those of private school students, since they will tend to be less wealthy than the private school parents, even accounting for the difference caused by tuition.)

The arrogance of this bill is well expressed here:

The tax relief is warranted because the state’s inadequate public schools limit parents’ choices for their children’s education, Rep. Hunter Greene told the House Committee on Ways and Means.

“The (public) schools, at least in my area, haven’t been performing up to par,” said Greene, R-Baton Rouge.

In other words, the public schools aren't working, so let's fund them less and provide incentives for not using them, and therefore not being invested in them as a community. That makes sense. It stinks of the "logic" of NCLB, which rewarded only schools that were doing well or improving, without a way to actually help badly performing schools improve. And I have little sympathy for parents who think their children are too smart for public schools--if that is truly the case, then enroll them in the Gifted & Talented program; as a part of special education, its precise purpose is to ensure that sufficient education is provided for every student.

Furthermore:

[Rep. Harold Ritchie] suggested adding a deduction for uniforms and instructional supplies that parents purchase in the public school system.

Greene resisted the change, pointing out that private school parents incur those expenses as well.

So I suppose the parents who can afford private school deserve breaks, but those who can't, don't.

[Greene] said parents with children in private school pay property taxes that keep the public schools running.

...And people who don't use medicare/medicaid pay taxes that keep those programs running, and people whose houses don't get set on fire pay for the fire department, and people who don't drive on every road in their state pay taxes for those roads, and and and.

At least there are some voices (like Ritchie's) to defend public education:

[Steve Monaghan, President of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers] particularly took aim at private school tuition tax deductions, which he argued are a “slippery slope” toward the state subsidizing private and parochial schools at the expense of public schools. [...] “It looks more like a political agenda than it does about sound education policy,” Monaghan said.

Monaghan goes on to make the exact point I mentioned earlier, and he uses a nice analogy for this ridiculous kind of lawmaking:

The legislation will be “more palatable” if tax breaks are kept in for uniforms and other core costs for the parents of public school children, Monaghan said, but that still does not make it good policy.

In reality, Monaghan said, the tuition tax deduction proposals are the same as giving extra tax relief to those who choose to buy books from Barnes & Noble rather than go to a library or to financially assist those who have private gym memberships rather than visit public parks.

Meanwhile, in a Senate committee, they didn't even really bother with something like the uniforms idea, and in fact there was an amendment for an additional tax credit, though that failed. Tom Tate, a lobbyist for the Louisiana Association of Educators, "characterized the tax break as a voucher without accountability standards"--well said. It passed by a huge margin of 9-2.

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Some interesting stories

The old legislature has apparently left us overcommitted with projects, and it will be up to the new legislature and Jindal's administration what takes priority.


Meanwhile, Jindal opposes teacher unions' proposals in favor of a voucher system:

The Republican governor's proposals include several that unions have repeatedly opposed over the years, including a "school choice" program, merit pay, and a tax credit of up to $5,000 per student for parents who send children to private schools or teach them at home.

Some may frame this opposition in terms of teachers' desire for more money--pay raises are in the proposal--but I think what is (or should be) really at issue here is vouchers. They're a step backwards, as far as I'm concerned.


While Jindal may tout the success of his ethics reform, one might question the relevance of the $50 meal limit. If these people (lobbyists) are to be believed, tabs didn't often reach $50 anyway. In fact, this law may encourage more spending.


Jindal's upcoming special session is supposed to include a proposal of $300 million for coastal restoration and hurricane protection. I hope a lot of that is for coastal restoration. Not that I'm against hurricane protection by any means, but hurricane protection won't do any good without the wetlands, and I feel like this has been a neglected point in post-Katrina discussions. As for the transportation money that is to be proposed in the session, some think that Jindal might send much of it to the northern part of the state to placate them in their complaints about coastal spending. This would be smart.

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No new posts for a while

Well this blog has been dead for the past few weeks, and unfortunately it's going to stay that way for about two more months. This is my last semester at LSU, and I've gotten very busy with that. I've barely been able to keep up with any news/blogs, so naturally I haven't had time to write anything myself.

There have certainly been things going on (and not just the intensely interesting Democratic presidential nomination race). Gov. Jindal has run an ethics reform session that he has announced as successful, but which onlookers have criticized as not going nearly far enough. I would link a post or two from Forgotston, but it's hard to pick one--all of his most recent posts focus on the ethics reform session, and in great detail, so I recommend those.

Jindal has also proposed a new budget. I haven't read about this yet, but I'll get to it.

In the meantime, check out the blogs in the sidebar, they're really good. I especially recommend Suspect Device. I might post something, but I can't really commit to anything until my semester is over. Though I haven't really gotten this blog off the ground yet, it feels good to have gotten it started.

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