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The ink wasn’t even dry on my last column about the progress Louisiana has made as a state with school choice and charters when the BESE board, at its regular meeting, jumped the tracks and embarrassed us all by displaying the “politics of the past.”

The board had the duty to vote on seven charter proposals for this fall. Three of those were recommended by NACSA as sound and four were not. NACSA is the national group used to provide an independent and unbiased evaluation of the application without the politics. The four not recommended were voted down. But when it came to the three recommendations, they failed to get the necessary six votes for approval. Two of the members who were there “took a walk” and left early before the vote. Those were Walter Lee and avowed education reformer Tammie McDaniel. McDaniel told the Opelousas Daily World that “the meeting ran extremely long. I had to leave.” But what I learned was that the vote was taken at 11 a.m. that morning. Hmmmm.

One week later, BESE called a special meeting to discuss the three Type 2 applicants that were recommended by NACSA. Applicants come to BESE when they have been turned down by their local boards. BESE approved the two New Orleans charters, which had the support of their local school board, and turned down the applicant from St. Landry Parish, whose school would have been managed by National Heritage Academies. NHA was going to build a new school too. And 35% of St. Landry’s children are below grade level.

NHA operates 61 K-8 public charters in six states with 39,000 students. They were just approved as a Type 1 by East Baton Rouge to open this fall. It’s one thing for the local board to turn them down due to the threat of competition—but for BESE to get a recommendation from NACSA and reject them just because the school board says so is outrageous.

To prove my point, St. Landry School Board member Scott Richard urged BESE to reject the proposal and afterward said, “I just think the wishes of the local school board were honored by BESE today.” BESE member Walter Lee explained the board’s decision by saying, “The big difference is the Orleans Parish School Board has endorsed those schools, whereas the St. Landry School Board has not.”

Chas Roemer, a BESE member who supported the approval of St. Landry and New Orleans proposals, said, “If we are going to let the local school boards—who already said no to the charter applicant—dictate what we do as well, then we should just turn off the lights and go home. We are just wasting taxpayer dollars and forcing kids to stay in a school that does not work for them.”

Tammie McDaniel said she did not agree with the funding formula for Type 2 and added, “I think the Legislature got it wrong.” So, a substitute motion was offered to approve St. Landry pending an opinion by the attorney general—and McDaniel still voted “no.” She’s a fraud and no friend of school reform in this state.

Board President Keith Guice added that just because he and others voted “no” doesn’t mean they are opposed to all charter schools. What a joke. It means BESE has agreed to be a puppet for the local school boards and the status quo. That is a serious problem for our state and the future of charters.

Give me a break

I’m amazed at all the recent attention given to one comment made by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan—when he was simply telling the truth.

Leading the front page last week was the Advocate headline, “Katrina comment blasted.” Guice, of BESE, is upset over the comment [taken out of context] made by Duncan. Duncan said that Hurricane Katrina was the “best thing” that happened to the education system in New Orleans. Guice, who obviously doesn’t understand the concept of “context” for a statement, said, “I do not think that Katrina was good for anyone.”

But while neither Duncan nor anyone else was suggesting the hurricane and the tragedy it brought to many was “good,” he was right on the mark with respect to the resulting school system post-Katrina. You can confirm that with parents, teachers and business leaders in New Orleans.

The rest of Duncan’s comment was, “That education system was a disaster, and it took Hurricane Katrina to wake up the community to say that ‘we have to do better.’” He was right.

Prior to Katrina, the New Orleans system was known as one of the worst in America. And what were Guice or BESE members doing about it then? In reporter Will Sentell’s story, BESE member Walter Lee tells members “there was general agreement before the storm that changes were needed in New Orleans public schools.”What?

It was criminal. The system wasn’t in need of “changes” but a total restructuring—which would have never happened under BESE. It was only the complete destruction of the system by Hurricane Katrina that allowed the system to be rebuilt from the ground up.

So, as Paul Vallas, head of the RSD in New Orleans said, Duncan need not apologize. The children and city of New Orleans are much better off today with the new school system made possible by Hurricane Katrina. If there is anyone who should apologize, I might suggest Mr. Guice, Mr. Lee and others who had the power to change the New Orleans system pre-Katrina—and did not.

Eliminate lt. gov. position

People I have spoken with, as well as the online polls [though not scientific], all say Louisiana should eliminate the office of lieutenant governor and truly streamline government. Gov. Bobby Jindal has proposed the idea, suggesting the duties could be delegated to other offices. The secretary of state could be designated as next in line, should something happen to the governor.

It seems the only opposition is coming from those politicians who are eyeing the seat, due to their current term limits, or who see it as a stepping stone to higher office. That is shameful. And it’s certainly not a good enough reason to keep the office. I have no doubt that if this change were put on the ballot as a constitutional amendment, the voters would pass it. But first it must get a two-thirds vote in the Legislature—and that’s where the politics will be played.

National recognition

The heat is on nationwide for local, state and federal governments to operate differently to reduce spending while improving services delivered to taxpayers. How can that happen? Innovation.

That’s the basis for the Reason Foundation’s annual “Innovators in Action” awards, a program that “highlights good government efforts that are delivering real results and value for taxpayers.”

The foundation, a national think tank, recognized nine honorees for 2009, including Louisiana’s own Angèle Davis, commissioner of administration, for her role in Jindal’s wide-ranging efforts to streamline the state bureaucracy; and Paul Pastorek, state superintendent of education, for using transparency, standards and accountability to improve student achievement and turn around low-performing schools.

“Amidst today’s massive deficits and red ink, we need government leaders who are willing to ditch the failed status quo and seek out better ways of doing things,” said Leonard Gilroy, director of government reform at the Reason Foundation. “We hope the examples and experiences offered by these innovators will inspire reform-minded officials at all levels of government to provide better, leaner and cheaper government to taxpayers.”