‘NY Times’ looks at Jindal Foundation

Today’s New York Times has a front-page report about corporate contributions made to the Supriya Jindal Foundation for Louisiana’s Children. The foundation, set up by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s wife, gives schools in low-income areas free high-tech whiteboards, which allow teachers to download multimedia lesson plans for math and science education. But the major donors include businesses with high-stakes regulatory issues pending in Louisiana, such as AT&T, Marathon Oil, Dow Chemical and Alon USA. Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group, told the newspaper the foundation compromises Jindal’s pledge to crack down on the influence of special interests. “It may be a good cause, but it creates the appearance he is being bribed,” Rolfes told The Times. “And if you are truly committed to ethical behavior, you just need to stay away from it altogether.” Kyle Plotkin, a Jindal spokesman, told the newspaper it was ridiculous to think the foundation was set up to lobby the governor or thank him for past actions. “It is a completely nonpolitical, nonpartisan organization created by the first lady, who, as an engineer and the mother of three children, has a passion for helping our young people learn science and math,” Plotkin told The Times. “Anything other than this reality has plainly been dreamed up by partisan hacks living in a fantasy land.” Read the full story here.