Gov. Bobby Jindal says he will push legislation in the upcoming session to allow businesses to partner with new charter schools, similar to Florida’s “charter schools in the workplace” initiative. “It is a great opportunity to improve your companies and our communities,” says Jindal, who made the announcement today at the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry’s annual meeting.
Under the projected partnership, participating businesses would receive a minority percentage of the school’s board seats and preferred enrollment for its employees’ children in exchange for a facility or land donation. Half of the charter school spots would be reserved for employees’ children and half would be for children who live near the school. A lottery would be held if demand exceeds available seats. School curriculum could be tailored to meet specific needs of the partnering company, says Jindal, and companies in turn could offer customized training programs, job shadowing and internships.
Along with announcing the initiative, Jindal identified three key challenges facing Louisiana in 2011 at the LABI annual meeting. He says the state must not raise taxes to stopgap the budget deficit and must streamline the way health care and higher education services are delivered. “Our challenges in health care and higher education are not simply about providing more money,” Jindal says.
Jindal spoke following keynote speaker and public opinion pollster Scott Rasmussen, who largely discussed the American public’s growing mistrust and resentment of bipartisan politics. “The American people now look at capitalism as practiced in this country as crony capitalism,” Rasmussen says, noting 68% of Americans believe their elected representatives don’t care what their constituents think and 52% believe they trade votes for cash. —Steve Sanoski
