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Just when it seemed Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's (R) school voucher scheme couldn't get much worse, it got a little worse.
This week, the Jindal administration said it would release materials detailing the vetting process for the 119 voucher schools receiving public funding, nearly all of which are religious, but not until after the school year begins. Why? Louisiana Superintendent John White has struggled to come up with an answer, though many believe it's because the state didn't have a vetting process and never came up with any standards of accountability.
And as a result, tax dollars are not only going to finance truly bizarre lesson plans, but some religious leaders who, shall we say, are a little eccentric.
After initial tales ofschools teaching antediluvian creationism and methods for preparing for the Rapture — including at least one school that discriminates based on religion and sexual orientation — it was reported that the Light City Christian Academy, located in New Orleans, had been approved for 80 students this fall, raking approximately $364,000 in state funds.
The school is not the only Christian institution that will be receiving state monies, but it is, thus far, the only one helmed by a man who says he “wears the mantle of an Apostle and Prophet.”Apostle Leonard Lucas, a one-term state representative, has been the subject of recent profilingsfor his charitable ventures, many of which are listed as “Not in Good Standing” by the Louisiana Secretary of State.
Should Light City meet the minimum voucher standards over the first year — that is, if they receive at least a state-issued grade of D-minus — they are eligible for an additional 83 students, which, if granted, would jump the K-12 school’s size approximately 400 percent from its 2011-12 total.
Oh my.
To reiterate what we discussed a few months ago, this has always been one of the key problems voucher proponents couldn't resolve. The basic framework is easy enough to follow: (1) identify which public schools are underperforming; (2) give some of the students at those schools tuition money for private schools; (3) watch those kids' test scores improve thanks to the unproven wonders of private education; and (4) wait for the struggling public schools to get better with less money and fewer smart children.
Aside from the faulty assumptions and serious constitutional questions surrounding giving tax dollars to religious ministries, there's the basic question of accountability.
Jindal and other voucher supporters want to test public schools to identify which are the best and worst, but they don't want to test private schools -- at all. They don't bother to consider who's running the schools, whether they're qualified to teach children, or even what the curricula looks like. How would anyone know public funds are being well spent? They wouldn't. How would anyone know if the students are benefiting? They wouldn't know that, either.
How would anyone know the private schools have good enough teachers and a strong enough curriculum to deserve tax dollars in the first place? That'd be a mystery, too.
No standards, no accountability, no oversight. It's the mantra of voucher advocates, and it's a problem that won't go away.
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Instances like these are when I wonder where the Christians who are moderate, intelligent and not literalists have gone. I keep hearing about them, how they are suposedly the majority and how they are not like the lunatic wannabee theocrats. I should be hearing their voices raised against such things as the above story.
Do other people hear these voices talking about "the Christians who are moderate, intelligent and ... the majority"? or do the voices only talk to you?
Oh dear, I hear about them all the time from people who say religion is a good thing. You know, those who tout how much Christianity has done for the world.
When asked about it, many will say they don't approve. Whether they actually don't approve, who knows.
There was a time that this type of thing would be shocking, even outrageous. How far we have come. I feel a sense of pride knowing that I told them so. I have no children I am indifferent to this really. Knowing that some back water state wants to take the title of "Most Backward" from Mississippi is heart worming. Bless them and I hope one day they will find out that wearing shoes and not breeding with their kin is a good thing.
There's big money in religion- especially if you are a "founding Father" (Joseph Smith and L. Ron Hubbard come to mind.)
ADMINZ! Sorry to read about your heart worms. It would be truly funny for the states to have a race to the rear if they were not allowed to vote. Educated voters and consumers are what a progressive nation need. Having received a good education in the 50s and 60s in public school, I pity the children in Lousiana and have nothing but disgust for those selling our nation's future to the highest bidder.
So now what? Will the voters be able to repeal the voucher law? Will the State ignore critics and continue to kiss the rears of religious kooks and anti-government freaks?
My guess is that until the voters oust the Gov. and his party this crap will get worse not better.
Of course the nutcases who pushed for the vouchers would simply say-if you don't like it then leave the State!
Nothing will happen to change this in Louisiana--or in any other state controlled by conservatives--until moderate Republicans become disgusted enough to vote against their own party.
It won't change because it hasn't changed there, ever. The only "change" that happened politically in Louisiana is that the scum running the place are now known as "Republicans" instead of "Democrats," but they are still the same scum. Like the rest of the South, it's in the DNA of southerners to support ignorance so they can be exploited by Ol' Massa.
Never mind the establishment clause problem, this is bad for kids.
First off, there's the gutting of public education. What the Republicans are marketing as choice in a child's education is really the "No Public School Left Standing" program. The students still in public school classrooms are in large classes with ever-higher percentages of special needs students. The special needs students suffer because they're not getting the attention they need and their classmates get next to no attention at all.
I have seen a seventh-grade public school science classroom with an annual expendables budget of $207 covering 5 sessions. You teach children science by having them do science. $207 works out to less than $1 per kid per semester. That's not a lot of science.
Then there are the kids going to the religion-based charter schools. Teaching kids that the Earth is 6,000 years old is educational malpractice. Teaching kids that there are thought crimes that can result in spending eternity in a lake of burning fire goes beyond the pale.
I won't go into all of the lower standards and rule-bending that goes on in the religion-based charter schools. Government officials at all levels are very tentative when it comes to free exercise of religion. Trust me, the people who run these academies know this and exploit it.
Screw the politics of this. This is bad for children. It has to stop.
The United States has failed.
No....just the Republican vision and those who follow
Shephard Rush.
I can't speak to the merits (which are probably few) of the Light City Christian Academy. But if they can operate a school--other than an online school--that provides a decent education to 80 students on $364K, they are indeed miracle workers.
All they want to know is that the schools are private and will be indoctrinating the inmates with proper conservative theology to insure they will be good Republican voters when they grow up.
Just in case anyone still wonders if the 2012 election is important, what's going on in Louisiana is what will go on in the rest of the country if God's Own Party wins control. It will be as thorough as what happened in Germany 80 years ago.
A few years back, I was in an educational psych graduate program. Professors kept asking, "How should x be accomplished in the education system?" And I would say, "It depends on what you think the purpose of the education system is. If you want informed critical thinkers, you should do y, maybe with a side of z. But I don't think that's actually what our government wants from the education system. They want obedient, indoctrinated drones, for the most part. So y and z are not going to happen."
Louisiana is determined to raise fewer contestants for Nobel Prizes in anything.
As Forrest Gump would say, "Stupid is who stupid does."
Steve mentions "accountability. standards, and oversight". Switch to NY. The teachers union have fought teacher accountability for years. The only solution seems to be more money. This has been true for years, and we're still behind. I don't know the answer, but it's not more money.
Funny how a couple of months ago the Republicans were all 'HOW DARE THE EVIL DEMOCRATS FORCE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS PAY FOR THERE CONTRACEPTION' but the Republicans are putting TAXPAYER money into religious PRIVATE schools. Hmmmmmmm. I guess that's what
hypocrisydemocracy is now-a-days.Public schools do not have friends in either political parties these days. President Obama's Ed Dept. appointed a Secretary that does not believe that class size matters and Mitt Romney openly calls for voucher programs and for fewer teachers in the classroom. Yet the prep schools of the President and Romney advertise teacher to student ratio as a key selling point:
Cranbrook School (Romney)
Smart Rating Total Students
72
1,673
CO-ED (All-Male, All-Female, Or Coed) Coed
Acceptance Rate 42%
Tuition (Boarders) $37,900
SSAT average percentile 66%
Average Class Size 16
Student/Teacher Ratio 5.5:1
Endowment size $217 Million
Endowment per Student $129,707
Punahou Prep (Obama)
What is the student-teacher ratio at Punahou?
That assumes we have a fixed classroom setting, and that's not how we structure our student experience. In addition to having grade-level teachers, our students spend time with specialists throughout the day, so each student gets lots of individualized attention. In K - 1, for example, the child not only has one full-time teacher and one assistant teacher in a class of 25, but that student also benefits from four special teachers for art, music, PE and library, as well as a drama specialist, a counselor and chaplain. Teachers and staff collaborate to attend to each child's needs, creating intimate learning environments that help make a large school feel small. A student in grades two through eight, where there are 23 to 25 students per class, spends time with the full-time teacher and special teachers in art, music, PE and library, along with the K - 8 drama specialist, counselor and chaplain. An Academy student attends a mix of classes, including small seminars and larger lectures, has access to counselors, deans and chaplains, and participates in a range of co-curricular activities. Given this flexible environment, students are able to expand their talents and build relationships with teachers and other mentors.
This year I will have 31 students in my Kindergarten class with no assistant teacher. Do you think either Obama or Romney would place their children or grandchildren in a class like that?
But the fact remains that public schools have a long history in the U.S. and money earmarked for them should not be used for private or sectarian schools. The fact that the Louisiana Supreme Court, not known for it's liberalism, struck down the voucher plan 6 to 1 speaks volumes about how flawed it was in the first place. Do you really want your tax dollars going to a sectarian school that teaches students how to prepare for The Rapture, a dubious fundy Christian belief that is based on one verse in the New Testament?
Also what about all the money that is spent taking this to courts, lawyers, etc.. to have it repealed... Such waste....