It was what one civic group leader called a “groundbreaking” moment at the Lafayette Parish School Board meeting Wednesday night when the board voted 5-3 to add to its superintendent selection committee a representative from the 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette and the Lafayette Parish Public Education Stakeholders Council.
Board member Hunter Beasley proposed that a representative from each of the organizations team up with the nine board members in making a recommendation on narrowing down the superintendent search to 10 applicants. Once the board approves the top 10 applicants, the two reps from the civic groups will no longer sit on the panel.
Board members Tehmi Chassion, Kermit Bouillion, Mark Cockerham and Shelton Cobb joined Beasley in supporting the new additions to the committee.
“I’ve spoken at length with Mr. Beasley and other members of this board about the attempt to bridge the gap in the community,” 100 Black Men President Patrick Williams tells The Advertiser. “This is a groundbreaking moment. I’m an emotional guy, so my insides are shaking because I know how important this is.”
But Beasley’s proposal was met with some expected opposition from board members Tommy Angelle, Rae Trahan and board President Mark Babineaux. Their no votes offer yet another exhibit of a 5-4 split among board members when it comes to critical reform issues facing Lafayette Parish schools. Board member Greg Awbrey, who often sides with Trahan, Angelle and Babineaux, was absent.
Recent polls published in The Daily Advertiser further demonstrate the visible chasm on the board. When asked to complete a survey ranking the top 10 priorities for the school board, Angelle, Trahan, Babineaux and Awbrey refused:
Trahan declined to participate, saying she was too busy with work commitments to fill out the survey, which was e-mailed to her on Aug. 4, 10 days prior to publication. When told that a majority of other board members had made time to make public their priorities, Trahan replied, “That’s not the point. I bet they couldn’t walk a week in my shoes.”
In an e-mail response, Babineaux declined to participate, calling the issues listed “agenda-oriented” and “blatant propaganda.” He added that the list was not a “fair and accurate assessment of realistic expectations” for a superintendent, that many decisions are out of the board’s and the superintendent’s hands, that he strongly opposes charter schools, and that everyone is welcome to participate in the board-sponsored community forums and online surveys.
Starting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Thibodeaux Career and Technical High School, residents are invited to give their take on what they want to see in a new top schools administrator during the first of six public forums to be held at each of the district’s high schools. Click here to complete an online survey from LPSS.
Read more on the board’s search for a super here and here.
For more on the state of Lafayette Parish schools and the significance of a new superintendent, read The Independent’s May 11 editorial, “Help Wanted.”
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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