Rolfe McCollister declares in his latest column, “There are areas of our community in desperate need of change over the next year—and 10 years. We can agree on this fact. Yet embracing and implementing change has traditionally been an agonizingly slow and painful process in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Propose a new idea, and the usual reaction is, ‘Well, that’s not how we’ve always done it before.’ This despicable statement has become the mantra of our status quo-loving city and parish with leaders who often follow instead of lead. We are a divided community in many ways, but let someone propose a new idea or innovation and watch us unite in our status quo embrace.
It’s a love affair that comes with an ongoing cost. We’ve missed out on opportunities like a bypass loop around Baton Rouge, a professional city manager, the ALIVE project on the riverfront, a minor league baseball team and a signature central park. These are just a few examples of what we’ve lost. You certainly could add to the list. What matters is the desperate need to break free from this pattern and strive for a better future.
This brings us to the evening of July 24 and the hiring of LaMont Cole as superintendent of East Baton Rouge public schools after an embarrassing and dysfunctional search by our bitterly divided school board. I congratulate Cole and wish him well in a very tough job ahead.”
McCollister notes, “Cole says his first goal is to ‘change the narrative’ about our schools. Change reality, and the narrative will change. We can’t simply spin a new story and hope the public will believe it. The truth has a nasty habit of emerging from the camouflage of propaganda.
Our system is a full letter grade below the state average. Our truancy rate is 57% of students. There are schools with only 25% student occupancy, I’m told, costing millions of taxpayer dollars to maintain. Why? Where are the results?
That’s the reality, Mr. Cole. It must change for real if you want to ‘change the narrative.’”
McCollister also writes about other topics including:
- The embarrassing display by the school board during its search for a superintendent. The lack of decorum, civility and respect on the board was disgusting.
- A group of greedy Louisiana Supreme Court judges who are just as distrustful as other politicians and who are breaking the law.
- Why Vice President Kamala Harris has already racked up three strikes against her.
- The success shown by the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition.
- The judicial race for First Circuit Court of Appeal, in which he says Judge Kelly Balfour is the clear choice over Judge Eboni Johnson Rose, who was just removed from the bench by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Read the full column, and send comments to editor@businessreport.com.
