[StBernard] Keeping our Kids in School

[Westley Annis]

Dear Friends, 


I traveled to Marksville last week along with educational leaders to receive
a national award for one of our state's dropout prevention programs.
Louisiana's Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) program received the "5 of 5"
award, which, as the Alexandria Town Talk
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c902%7c9390&digest
=8LNFKB2ANBeeCqcYzvGnyg>  reported, "goes to programs that surpass
performance outcomes in graduation rates, positive outcomes, employment
rates, full-time job rates and full-time job placements."

We also announced some important initiatives we will implement to eliminate
low-performing programs and allow the state to invest in programs like JAG
that have had great success. Indeed, we have seen the success of JAG
programs though the incredible performance outcome rates scored this past
year, earning them the award for not only meeting national standards, but
surpassing them. For instance, in the 2008-2009 school year, the JAG program
in Louisiana had a graduation rate of 93 percent. As written in the Baton
Rouge Advocate
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c903%7c9390&digest
=IlCDwrI2FmcXNRP%2fxSPAFA> , these initiatives, which include linking
funding to performance, are designed to "trim Louisiana's public high school
dropout rate." Ensuring that our students have both the tools they need and
the opportunity to succeed in today's 21st century workforce is critical for
their futures.

I also visited Shreveport to announce an expansion of Dr. Reddy's
Pharmaceutical's operations. Dr. Reddy's expansion will create 73 new jobs,
retain 161 jobs and involve a $16.5 million capital investment in our state.
The new facility will also allow Dr. Reddy's to support multiple new
products and bring high-tech biological jobs to the area. As reported by
KSLA
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c904%7c9390&digest
=nl2WhzgdjudXsXuFvNukUg> , this announcement "promises new jobs today, and
in the future," because we expect the expansion will also create an
additional 184 indirect jobs. In total, we have announced economic
development wins that create more than 34,000 new direct and indirect jobs
for Louisiana workers and more than $4.5 billion in capital investment since
taking office.

We will also take steps to further streamline state government and help
mitigate budget challenges facing our state in the coming years, by
auctioning off unnecessary state vehicles this Saturday. As the New Orleans
Times-Picayune
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c915%7c9390&digest
=fJeYNo3Nzh4fKwTqwyPBZg>  wrote, "The state's vehicle fleet is scheduled to
shrink starting this weekend when 280 cars, trucks and buses go on the
auction block." This will allow us to save significant costs in the
day-to-day operations of state government while ensuring that government is
only using what it needs.

We also received an update from the Department of Revenue Monday that our
tax amnesty program has collected more than triple our original goal, and
additional funds are still being processed. More than $466 million
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c916%7c9390&digest
=7jtkU4rQacIcuATIo%2bdhKQ>  in funds have been collected to date and that
number should grow higher. While this is certainly not a silver bullet for
our budget challenges, it will allow us to help mitigate reductions to our
state's health care services if the federal FMAP rate is not quickly
corrected.

Sincerely,
Governor Bobby Jindal