Gov. Jindal sworn in, says mission ‘not accomplished’

Saying “our mission is not accomplished,” Gov. Bobby Jindal entered his second term today with an emphasis on improving Louisiana’s poor-performing schools as the way to attract jobs and opportunity to the poverty-ridden state. “All we need to do is muster the courage to change our ways and to abandon old tired methods that have failed generations of our children,” Jindal said in his inaugural speech. “The way forward is very simple. It is to provide more choices and more opportunities for parents, for families, for children.” The 40-year-old Republican took his oath of office at the Old State Capitol, on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, in a ceremony eclipsed by the BCS championship game later today between LSU and Alabama in New Orleans. Jindal acknowledged what he called “the elephant in the room.” “I am fully aware, as my kids have reminded me, that my inauguration as governor is not the most important thing that will happen in the great state of Louisiana today,” he joked. Also taking office were six other statewide elected officials, all Republicans and none new to his job: Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, Secretary of State Tom Schedler, Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell, Treasurer John Kennedy, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain. Read the full story from The Associated Press here, and see the full text of Jindal’s inauguration address here.