BATON ROUGE (AP) — The fate of several controversial bills that would rework the laws governing local school boards is unclear after a House committee abruptly adjourned Tuesday night without hearing them.
The chairman of the House Education Committee, Democratic Rep. Austin Badon, said he got “marching orders” to end his committee hearing without taking up the bills by Republican Rep. Steve Carter.
Badon wouldn’t say who told him to adjourn the committee, and he said he didn’t know if the bills would be heard at all this session. He said the proposals were “under negotiation.”
Carter’s bills would limit the authority of school boards in hiring and firing decisions and would cut school board members’ pay. The proposals have raised fierce opposition from local school board members and other groups, who say they are a Baton Rouge power grab.
