Using the term “qualifying” for registering to run for political office is kind of like using the word “practice” for careers in medicine, accounting and law. We’d like to believe our doctors, accountants and lawyers are done practicing when they get their licenses, and we’d like to think that candidates are qualified when they qualify. Clearly that’s not always the case, be it police jury or president.
Qualifying begins today and runs through Friday across the state for the fall elections, including for two conspicuously vacant seats on the Lafayette Parish School Board. Longtime board members Mike Hefner of District 5 and Ed Sam of District 4 announced their retirements within days of each other recently. They are the longest serving members of the current board, a super majority of which is in its first term. Each was elected in 1990, and each believes that two decades in a thankless job is enough.
“Don’t do it to expect appreciation,” Hefner told me last week. “You don’t do it to expect compliments. The day you’re elected, all of a sudden you’re lower than a snake in the grass — you’re a no-good S.O.B. after that.”
Sell it, Mike, sell it!
Hefner’s and Sam’s replacements will inherit a school system that is in need of more than $1 billion in school repairs and new facilities and will go before voters, hat in hand, in the coming months — maybe as early as November — to request about half that amount. Notwithstanding the current economic climate, asking voters for that much money, likely in the form of a property tax, will be a tough sell. And selling it to a community that is sometimes hostile and otherwise disengaged with public education, is something else entirely. Parish voters said no to tax propositions for school maintenance in 1992 and again in 2000.
And can the public have confidence that the school board is serious about maintaining facilities when, as a final stroke on the 2010-2011 budget, the board voted to pull $4.5 million out of maintenance for a downpayment on the career-tech high school?
A few weeks ago The Independent sent questionnaires to school board members seeking their thoughts on education in Lafayette. The candidates who qualify to run will also get them. I’ll admit that when pointing to disengagement with the school system, three fingers are pointing back at us. This paper has been less than aggressive in keeping tabs on the second biggest civic enterprise in Lafayette Parish behind city-parish government. Less than aggressive is a nice way of saying torpid.
We plan to change that. The Lafayette Parish School System, warts and all, educates 30,000 of the 38,000 school-age children in the parish. The school board very much matters. We all should give a damn.
Some in the community are ruing the retirement of Hefner and Sam, who have genuine institutional knowledge, i.e., an understanding of how the system works, what buttons to press and levers to pull, who to lean on to get things done. There will be no more Mike Hefners or Ed Sams after they leave. But that’s just what we literally have elected to do. A few years ago parish voters imposed term limits on the board. A dozen years. Three four-year terms.
Assuming candidates without backgrounds in public education seek those open seats and the remainder of the board stays in place, the board will have only two members with experience as either classroom teachers or administrators.
Our sources are telling us that several of the incumbents who plan to run for re-election will have opposition.
We expect new board members to need some practice. Let’s hope they’re qualified, and then hold them accountable.
... written by Right On! , July 07, 2010 - 11:10 am
"The school board very much matters. We all should give a damn." Granted the 100 Black Men do. The Chamber tried but wore out. But mostly we don't. And that is a huge mistake whether or not you have kids in the public school system. How many prospective businesses are willing to move here or stay because we have a great "private school" system. Nada! How do we provide a qualified work force if 30,000 of our 38,000 prospective employees don't receive a good education. What alternative is there to crime if our kids don't have a marketable skill set? It's all doable. We just have to give a damn and get involved as a community and as individuals. As for The Independent, thanks for the mea culpa. Now show us you mean it.
... written by Citizen , July 07, 2010 - 12:05 pm
Candidates without backgrounds in public education should not even apply. We already have enough people in the school system who have no clue what happens in a classroom. In fact MOST of the people running the school systems have NO CLUE what happens in a classroom.
That's like having a Judge who has no clue about law, or a hospital administrator who has no clue about medicine.
If you haven't spent time in a classroom in the last 5 years, then you should just go away. OK? Thanks.
... written by Right on! , July 07, 2010 - 03:36 pm
Have to disagree with Citizen on qualifications to be on the School Board. The LPSS is a $300+ million dollar per year enterprise. It is Lafayette's largest employer. The transportation system has more buses than New Orleans pre-Katrina. It's human resources, insurance, retirement benefits and food services account for millions of its budget. Not exactly an educator's cup of tea. But most importantly, the Legislature just passed a "no micromanagement" law to prevent school boards from running the day to day operations of the school system. Just as we have a civilian Commander in Chief over the United States military, we need a broad range of citizen input as to the goals of the school system. That's what the Board is for. Hire a great Superintendent, hold the Superintendent accountable for achieving the goals, then get out of the way and let the professional educators do their job.
... written by ragin_cajun , July 07, 2010 - 08:46 pm
" a school system that is in need of more than $1 billion in school repairs and new facilities " -- that is debatable, doubtful, even.
"What alternative is there to crime if our kids don't have a marketable skill set? " -- You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
"We already have enough people in the school system who have no clue what happens in a classroom." -- Presumably every citizen has been through at least 12 years of education. That means they do "have a clue what goes on inside a classroom" If you think things in the classroom have changed that much in the last 5 years, then let's hear what's changed. Really--describe it for us.
The idea that only "insiders", or "educators", or "specialists" should have any say over what goes on in the schools is directly counter to the whole principle of "self government" that has made this country great. If it's that hard, then maybe it's too difficult for pubic funding, too. If you believe that education has become so complex that only a highly specialized cadre of trained professionals can handle it--that just screams out for privatization. You don't think THAT'S a good idea, do you?
Or do you propose that the ignorant masses just give over their hard earned money to the school board, and then shut up and let the adults do the thinking? "Thanks for the money, now GO AWAY...you cretin"
I'm with "Right on!". I don't think many teachers have the chops to handle the budget, the purchasing, maintenance, personnel management of the LPSS. Nor do many doctors have the chops to handle a hospital budget...nor do many Judges have the chops to handle the budget for the courts.
That's why doctors' offices usually hire office managers, transcriptionists, medical records people, etc. Judges hire paralegals, IT departments, clerks, etc.
... written by Pedro , July 08, 2010 - 02:54 am
"The Chamber tried but wore out. But mostly we don't. And that is a huge mistake whether or not you have kids in the public school system. How many prospective businesses are willing to move here or stay because we have a great "private school" system. Nada!"
Great Statement, Right On! I would like to add many of parents "wore out" over the years! I think we"give a damn". We are just too tired to keep fighting with the same people. The LPSB/LPSS must train administrative/central office employees in the fine art of "smoke and mirrors", endless/mindless meetings, "bait and switch" who is in charge,never admit a mistake, never resolve the problem tactics. Mike Hefner excels at all of the above. If Mike wanted thanks he should have made better choices, told the truth and instituted some kind of accountability within the system. That may have helped to move the system forward. Honestly, after several conversations with him (over several years), I felt I should have at least left with a solid used car and a high interest loan.
... written by Morrow , July 08, 2010 - 11:49 am
Not many want to face the reality the school board has not been a good steward of the money they've rec'd from taxes. I cannot get the dollar amount of how much tax money the SB has collected, year by year, for the past 10 yrs. and how that money increased as property values increaed and how that money was spent. I do not have the time or means to do it myself. The taxpayer in not nearly getting their money's worth when we have a DROP OUT RATE OF NEARLY 50%. Of the 50% who finish, their education is far from being spectacular. Excuse me if I just don't belive I want to give more money for schools the SB intentionally neglected. I think maybe its time for people WITH MORE BUSINESS EXPERIENCE TO RUN THIS SHOW. Maybe a little business sense could trip the inflated budget and provide cost cutting measures so the taxpayer doesn't have to shell out more bucks. Property tax is the only way to go since sales tax collections are down and I'm barely hanging on as it is.
... written by Old Rig Hand , July 08, 2010 - 01:19 pm
$1 Billion dollars in school repairs? That's over $26,000/student! Had the school board been performing maintenance on school facilities, they would not be in the miserable shape they now are in. No one wants to move to Lafayette because our public education sucks...
... written by Soop , July 08, 2010 - 01:39 pm
Common sense and a pragmatic approach to solving problems and evaluating current programs should be the only qualifications for the school board. I'm not convinced teachers and administrators fit that bill. It has become almost cliche to say it but I want people on the school board who "think outside the box."
That's why I give kudos to the new technical school idea. This approach to education that every child is a future college student and should be so educated was naive at best. And it discouraged a lot of kids from pursuing solid, respectable careers just because of some silly notion they were no good if they didn't go to college.
Anyone who can help truly make our schools better rather than just keeping the wagon rolling down the same old ruts by doing the same old thing will get my vote.
All the best,
Soop
... written by NORTHSIDIAN SHOTGUN , July 09, 2010 - 01:24 pm
You want to be appreciated, Mike ? Pray tell, just who is it that you want to appreciate you, the parents who use the schools as a day care, those parents that have never seen the inside of their kids report card, the kids flipping burgers at a burger palace and those young men standing in the parking lots of convenient stores with a brown paper bag in their hand in the middle of the morning, and in the middle of the afternoon ? Mike, I ,You, We, They, every single individual that has worked to build a better school system, when you see all those young male imbecile's in the parking lots of convenient stores during the day sipping from a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag, while their "BABY_MAMA'S are at UMC adding another increase to the welfare rolls ! PO-BET MIKE, wants an atta boy and a pat on the back, you better pray we never meet, because i am going to give you a boot in the butt for a """ JOB, WELL DONE ! In your fruit loop, Peachy Mazda Coupe !
... written by local gal , July 16, 2010 - 11:41 pm
Young adults: get out while you can. This city will never be anything more if we continue to recylce the same type of people through city leadership and education. Nothing has changed here except more stores and houses have been built. There is no progressive thinking, no companies relocating or investing here and a downtown that is dying on the vine with no cultural identity whatsoever. Not a major bldg. has been erected downtown in what 40 years? Remember the plans for a downtown hotel. Right. Save yourself; leave now.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in using your Facebook account or register if you do not have an account yet.
Advertisement
Read the Flipping Paper!
Click Here for the Entire Print Version of IND Monthly
Is it a crime for citizens to photograph, video, or take notes of a police officer in the line of duty, or a right protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? Locally, such activity, as witnessed recently, will at the very least result in a night spent behind bars.
David Calhoun and Elizabeth “EB” Brooks are the first two employees of Lafayette Central Park Inc., the nonprofit charged with turning Lafayette Consolidated Government’s 100-acre Johnston Street Horse Farm property into a passive public park. Calhoun was named executive director, and Brooks is director of planning and design.
At Thursday's State of the Economy luncheon, LEDA President and CEO Gregg Gothreaux said PXP has already quietly hired 180 people for its Broussard expansion.
Episcopal School of Acadiana’s Dr. Joshua Caffery, chair of the school’s English Department, is headed to Washington, D.C., and the Library of Congress as the latest winner of the Alan Lomax Fellowship in Folklife Studies.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
Subscribe to this comment's feed