[StBernard] Point of View by Ron Chapman

[Westley Annis]

This article is also available on the web
http://www.cajuncrossfire.com/archives/2005/09/teachers_-_poin.html
http://tinyurl.com/cl97t

Point of View
By Ron Chapman
St. Bernard Voice

Nothing like having your state kick you in the teeth when you are down.  

Education is the key to economic development.  Everyone knows that,
especially those occupying the highest levels of power in state government.
Or, at least they should know it!  Yet, the state has participated in the
total destruction of the educational systems in three parishes that had
already endured the impact of Hurricane Katrina.  Furthermore, this action
will serve to impair reconstruction of these communities and shake the faith
of other state employees.

Children come first.  When families evacuated, their first concern was care
for their children, which included finding adequate educational
institutions.  Children are our roots.  Where we plant them, we stay.  With
that in mind it is crucial for any community undergoing reconstruction to
secure its educational base.  Good schools and established teachers
encourage evacuees to return. It provides a crucial base. Schools are the
magnet.

Teachers in St. Bernard, Plaquemines, and Orleans parishes have received the
"unkindest cut of all."   At a time when they are enduring the horrors of
having everything they own taken from them by a vicious storm, the great
state of Louisiana has added to their terror by cutting off their income and
health care benefits within weeks of the storm.  Nothing like loyalty, heh
governor!

The fact remains that Louisiana has 64 parishes.  Katrina impacted three to
the point that educational systems were forced to temporarily shut down.
That leaves 61 parishes fully functioning providing Louisiana with a tax
base and income. 

One would think that Governor Blanco would want to maintain the educational
infrastructure of these three parishes because of the essential role schools
play in reconstruction.  If parents have schools for their children, they
can return and rebuild.  If schools are not functioning, they have no
alternative but to go where their kids can get an education.  Which may mean
leaving Louisiana.  Can this state afford that brain drain?   The school
systems in these parishes are an essential economic catalyst for
reconstruction. 

What has Governor Blanco done?  Nothing! She has failed us once again! 

The teachers in these three parishes are now destitute.  They have neither
income nor health insurance.   They have been forced to seek employment
wherever they can.  Few, therefore, have any reason to return to their
community.   What a wonderful way to thank them for many years of unselfish
service. What a great plan for recovery.  Thanks governor!

Has any attempt been made to locate these teachers? Was any attempt made to
place these teachers in schools that are now overcrowded?  Was any thought
given to securing this valuable human resource and using it.  No!!!

What happens when these school districts attempt to rebuild?  Who will
return?  What continuity will exist if only new teachers are hired?  Will
familiar faces greet children?  What will be the quality of education for
our children? 

But, some argue, "paying theses teachers costs money."   Yes it does.
Louisiana, however, HAS money.  Only Louisiana spends it foolishly.  Look at
the budget!

Louisiana's budget is based upon oil royalties calculated at $17 per barrel.
Today oil is selling for nearly $68 per barrel.  Last year the state gained
over $350 MILLION in additional money because of this differential.  What
did Blanco do? Did she save it?  Did she invest it?  NO! She flushed it
through legislative slush funds. 

Louisiana will continue to enjoy such bonuses for the foreseeable future.
$17 oil is a thing of the past.  What will happen to this "off budget"
money?  It could be earmarked for the educational systems in crisis!  But
that might take imagination.  Something sorely lacking in this governor's
mansion.

This money, coupled with the state's standard match to teacher's regular pay
and benefits could make these systems whole.  Within a year, most of these
communities will be back and their economies will start to function. The
educational infrastructure only needs to be maintained during the
transition.   

Why didn't the governor earmark all additional money for education?  Why
didn't she take the initiative to see to it that teachers in the three
destroyed parishes were kept whole while the school systems were
reconstructed?   She didn't do it because she has no idea how to manage a
crisis!

Now, when St. Bernard, Plaquemines, and Orleans parishes seek to find
teachers, where will they find them?  Why should the established, good
teachers come back? Why should they shoulder the hard labor of rebuilding a
system that has "kicked them in the teeth"?

What message has Blanco sent to teachers and state employees statewide?
Your lives and that of your families do not matter to this governor.  

Blanco is once again living up to her name."Blank-0".nothing!!!  
If "Blank-0" really wants to serve the people of Louisiana, she should
resign!