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Robert Roland, retired chairman of the Louisiana Board of Ethics after more than 20 years of distinguished service, recently told a group, “Louisiana will be a much better place if even half of this (LAEthics1) passes.”

Well, Wednesday, May 9, has been designated as “Ethics Reform Day,” and you are invited to be present for the first battle. Supporters will gather starting at 9 a.m. in the lobby of the State Capitol and remain until 2 p.m. The package of bills, developed by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and 40 other organizations, will come up before the House & Governmental Affairs Committee. Will it pass? Will it be amended and watered down?

A number of legislators have signed on as authors. Newspapers and groups across the state have endorsed the ethics package, which could do much for our state’s image, reputation and national rankings on many of those “lists” we always complain about.

So, enough talk—come help fix it. Mark your calendar for Ethics Reform Day. Let the lawmakers know what you want for our state.

To register go to LAEthics1.com.

Not helping their cause

They stood on the Capitol steps, chanting, “Enough is Enough.” Were they speaking about the low test scores in Louisiana and our poor national rankings in education? No, teachers were protesting for more money. One teacher said, “We should be paid more. We’re professionals.” When have you ever seen thousands of lawyers or doctors on the Capitol steps carrying signs demanding a raise? Never. These professionals compete in the marketplace for more money based on performance. And the best get it from their customers.

Our nonscientific online poll at BusinessReport.com/Daily-Report.com had more than 1,400 votes, and showed 80% thought the rally forcing schools to close was wrong and “hurt children and parents.” The same was true among most callers to WJBO radio. This method may work on weak-minded politicians at the Capitol, but it is not making points with parents or the public.

While the Public Affairs Research Council points out the raise will bring most of the districts’ teacher pay up to the Southern regional average, they do not support across-the-board raises. They prefer to give school systems the authority to decide based on performance of teachers and support workers. The unions won’t have any of that, and the governor has said she will not move from across-the-board raises. That’s leadership.

The average public school teacher in Louisiana is paid $42,700 for nine months’ work. That works out to $4,744 a month, plus benefits and retirement. That’s for good teachers and bad ones.

The $2,400 increase would boost that figure to $45,100, right at the regional average of $45,169. That would mean $5,011 a month for nine months.

I could argue that for the tough job they have for those nine months, a good teacher is worth every penny and more. But the best ones get no reward, and the worst ones don’t get fired. In fact, they get the same pay and the same raise as everyone else. What a demoralizing system. (And we wonder why we lose good teachers and the weak ones never leave.)

Blanco is talking $2,400 more for all teachers and additional amounts for some systems, like $1,543 added for Baker. Do you believe paying $3,943 more to every teacher in Baker is going to suddenly make that system’s results better? I don’t.

Throwing more money into the same old system will not fix it, and paying bad teachers more will not make them good teachers. With tenure, the bad ones aren’t leaving. And the unions will be back next year on the steps, asking for more. Just know, for the unions, it’s not about the children or the results—it’s all about the money and power politics.

Road Home at dead end?

Remember when Blanco was all over the radio touting her Road Home program? Well, let’s not forget, this will always be Blanco’s Road Home—especially if it suddenly turns into a dirt road for thousands and leads to a dead end. This program, being administered by ICF, has been a fiasco since the beginning and criticized by many—including Blanco.

Now we learn that the fund could be $3 billion or $4 billion short of needs. Based on current applications and the average grant, it appears the $7.5 billion fund will run out, leaving tens of thousands of homeowners with nothing. Don Powell’s policy director, Taylor Beery, wants to know what happened to the $10.4 billion already sent to Louisiana (enough to handle the needs)? He also points to the $2 billion surplus the state has and wonders how much will go to hurricane recovery.

Congressman Bobby Jindal brought the situation to light in a letter last week to the governor and lawmakers as they began the legislative session, which will include a debate on how to spend the surplus. Blanco criticized Jindal and said he should have called her and offered to help. Sounds like she would have just preferred to keep this situation a private matter and not let the public know. The governor revealed she had called U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu the week before to tell her of the shortfall. It appears Blanco just didn’t want us to know of more problems with “her” program or that thousands could get stranded with no payments. In fact, maybe she was hoping it wouldn’t surface until next year when there’s a new governor in the Capitol.

Vote on Pinnacle Oct. 20

Regardless of your position on gambling, you should be concerned about the proposed election regarding a new riverboat. It appears the Metro Council will let you vote on the issue of Pinnacle building a new resort and locating a third riverboat in East Baton Rouge Parish. Some see this as economic development, others see it as potentially replacing one of the existing boats with a better alternative (leaving us with two boats as we have now), and some see it as a commercial development encroaching on their residential area. It will be a heated debate and everyone should participate and vote. But when?

The Metro Council is being asked on Wednesday, May 9, to put the item on the July 21 ballot. The fact is, Pinnacle has not even presented its plans to the Gaming Commission and had them approved—and they haven’t shown the Metro Council anything either, except a few renderings. That’s not enough.

First, the Metro Council should see more before they approve something going on the ballot. And second, a July 21 election date is certain to guarantee a low turnout with many on vacation and nothing else on the ballot. The Metro Council should want folks to participate in this decision, and they should add this to the Oct. 20 ballot.

The Metro Council and the public need detailed information on plans, and we already have an election date set in five months that won’t cost extra tax dollars. Rushing this matter will cause suspicion among voters as to what is going on behind closed doors.

To express your opinions to the Metro Council, click here and click on “Metro Council” in the left column you will find emails and phone numbers for all council members.