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Bobby Jindal on Education

Republican Governor; previously Representative (LA-1)


Reward good teachers with flex pay

In my first year as governor, I proposed a flex pay program for teachers so that school districts could pay more to attract the teachers they need. But local school leaders said they couldn't adopt the program because the unions would make their lives miserable. The union's goal is to convince teachers that seniority is the only fair way to allocate pay. But that's hardly in the interest of individual teachers who want to excel.

In 2010, we passed a value-added teacher evaluation bill geared toward teaching and student achievement. It brings accountability to schools and actually measures teachers and classrooms based on results. This legislation assesses teachers fairly, based on a student's true progress during the course of a year. These data will help to identify the good teachers to reward them.

Source: Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal, p. 67-68 Nov 15, 2010

Pay 90% of public school cost as private & parochial tuition

Competition forces schools to focus on getting results. In my first year in office, we pushed legislation for a student scholarship program in New Orleans. The premise was simple: in New Orleans, we spend roughly $8,400 per child. If parents had a child in a failing public school in New Orleans, I proposed letting them take a maximum of 90% of those funds and use them to pay tuition at a participating private or parochial school. I called it a student scholarship program. It lets parents, and private an parochial schools, decide if they want to participate, and it has essentially no effect on the budget. Indeed, the average scholarship size has been much less: $4,593. Most importantly, this program targets those parents who need it most. In fact, the average income for the scholarship applications we received was $15,564.

Who in their right mind would oppose giving parents such a choice? The education establishment, of course--I was charged with attacking the public schools.

Source: Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal, p. 70 Nov 15, 2010

Tap faith-based groups to run charter schools

The New Orleans charter school system in not perfect. Initially, Louisiana law dictated that charter schools should not "be supported by or affiliated with and religion or religious organization or institution." This was unnecessarily restrictive, because federal laws already prevent publicly funded schools from engaging in religious discrimination or conducting religious instruction. But there is no reason why we shouldn't tap the expertise of churches and faith-based groups to help us reform and enhance our education system. As governor, I have worked to eliminate restrictions that have shut these groups out.

The key to success in charter schools is getting parents and the community involved, so we've tried to make parental involvement as easy as possible. We've also empowered teachers with a new law allowing a traditional school to become a charter school by a simple faculty vote

Source: Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal, p. 74 Nov 15, 2010

I favor whatever works, including vouchers & charters

While liberals hysterically claim school choice would destroy public education, their real concern is their fear of the teacher unions, which lose power to parents through school choice. Liberals also reflexively opposed any policy that might benefit religious schools.

Schools choice takes many forms--vouchers, tax credits, charters, student scholarships, and transfers to better public schools are a few. I favor whatever works, depending on the needs of the community. The successful methods we're using in New Orleans--charter schools and scholarship programs--could serve as a model for other cities looking to secure a good education for their poorest, most vulnerable kids. I'm for what works.

Communities with failing education systems nationwide need to act fast to expand school choice. Telling parents to wait to the failing school in their neighborhood to improve on its own is offensive and absurd.

Source: Leadership and Crisis, by Bobby Jindal, p. 76-77 Nov 15, 2010

Reinvented New Orleans with private/parochial scholarships

We need to make sure every child in America gets the best possible education. After Katrina, we reinvented the New Orleans school system, opening dozens of new charter schools, and creating a new scholarship program that is giving parents the chance to send their children to private or parochial schools of their choice. We believe that, with the proper education, the children of America can do anything. And it shouldn't take a devastating storm to bring this kind of innovation to education.
Source: GOP response to the 2009 State of the Union address Feb 24, 2009

Increase completion rate above 6% for GED-OPTIONS program

Only 65% of high school students graduated on-time in the 06-07 school year, and about 14,000 to 17,000 drop out of school each year. This figure is disturbing. This is an incredibly large number of our sons and daughters that do not see a future for the in school. We have got to turn this trend around.

Almost 10,000 over-average-age middle school students opt out of high school and instead enroll into a pre-GED OPTIONS program each year...Yet only 6% of them end up getting a GED. This is not acceptable.

Next session, we will work to close these gaps in the system that too many of our children are slipping through by giving students multiple pathways to success and keeping them engaged in their education--which we all know is the ticket to their future.

Our initiatives will tie academic remediation and GED completion to workforce training opportunities so students complete their program with a useful skill that can directly help them get a job.

Source: 2009 State of the State Address Jan 8, 2009

Performance-based funding for schools to meet industry needs

The current education funding formula lacks incentives for institutions to generate external research funding in sectors identified as economic development priorities. The proposed performance-based formula will address these needs in our current formula and better fit our higher education institutions to the real industry and business needs. This new funding formula will:Through this new, performance-based funding formula, higher education institutions will be rewarded for offering programs that meet real workforce demands
Source: 2009 State of the State Address Jan 8, 2009

Too many of our campuses have buildings with leaking roofs

In addition to investing in our institutions of research, we must also invest in our institutions of higher education. Right now, too many of our campuses have buildings with leaking roofs and other deferred maintenance issues. We must commit more to our educational facilities. Ensuring they are places of learning and excellence, requires them to first be places of safety with fully operational equipment.
Source: Second Special Session Speech Mar 9, 2008

Tax deductions for tuition & qualified educational expenses

We must also encourage more Louisianians to take advantage of our state’s many educational opportunities by providing a tuition deduction that will allow parents to keep more of their hard-earned money so they can invest in their child’s education. It is smart policy to allow families tax deductions for tuition and qualified educational expenses for their children.
Source: Second Special Session Speech Mar 9, 2008

Voted NO on allowing Courts to decide on "God" in Pledge of Allegiance.

Amendment to preserve the authority of the US Supreme Court to decide any question pertaining to the Pledge of Allegiance. The bill underlying this amendment would disallow any federal courts from hearing cases concerning the Pledge of Allegiance. This amendment would make an exception for the Supreme Court.

Proponents support voting YES because:

I believe that our Pledge of Allegiance with its use of the phrase "under God" is entirely consistent with our Nation's cultural and historic traditions. I also believe that the Court holding that use of this phrase is unconstitutional is wrong. But this court-stripping bill is not necessary. This legislation would bar a Federal court, including the Supreme Court, from reviewing any claim that challenges the recitation of the Pledge on first amendment grounds.

If we are a Nation of laws, we must be committed to allowing courts to decide what the law is. This bill is unnecessary and probably unconstitutional. It would contradict the principle of Marbury v. Madison, intrude on the principles of separation of powers, and degrade our independent Federal judiciary.

Opponents support voting NO because:

I was disappointed 4 years ago when two judges of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that our Pledge, our statement of shared national values, was somehow unconstitutional. I do not take legislation that removes an issue from the jurisdiction of this court system lightly. This legislation is appropriate, however, because of the egregious conduct of the courts in dealing with the Pledge of Allegiance.

By striking "under God" from the Pledge, the Court has shown contempt for the Congress which approved the language, and, more importantly, shows a complete disregard for the millions of Americans who proudly recite the Pledge as a statement of our shared national values and aspirations. No one is required to recite the Pledge if they disagree with its message.

Reference: Watt amendment to Pledge Protection Act; Bill H R 2389 ; vote number 2006-384 on Jul 19, 2006

Voted NO on $84 million in grants for Black and Hispanic colleges.

This vote is on a substitute bill (which means an amendment which replaces the entire text of the original bill). Voting YES means support for the key differences from the original bill: lowering student loan interest rates; $59 million for a new Predominantly Black Serving Institution program; $25 million for a new graduate Hispanic Serving Institution program; provide for year- round Pell grants; and repeal the Single Lender rule. The substitute's proponents say:
  • The original bill has some critical shortcomings. First and foremost, this substitute will cut the new Pell Grant fixed interest rate in half from 6.8% to 3.4%, to reduce college costs to those students most in need.
  • It would also establish a new predominantly black-serving institutions programs to boost college participation rates for low-income black students, and a new graduate Hispanic-serving institution program.
  • As we saw from 1995 to 2000, the questions employers were asking was not your race, not your ethnicity, not your religion, they wanted to know if you had the skills and talents to do the job. Most often today, those skills and that talent requires a higher education. A college education is going to have to become as common as a high school education.
    Reference: Reverse the Raid on Student Aid Act; Bill HR 609 Amendment 772 ; vote number 2006-080 on Mar 30, 2006

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    Page last updated: Sep 04, 2011