Which state has the lowest ethics in the nation? Without question, it is Louisiana. This is the state where the “ethics board” ruled that members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education could vote on contracts for campaign contributors, because they did not work for them as employees.
This is the same “ethics board” that saw no conflict when Kira Orange Jones, the director of Teach for America in Néw Orleans, was elected to the state board, which proceeded to award a $1 million contract to her employer.
Now Orange Jones has statewide responsibility for TFA. No doubt the “ethics board” will find no conflict between her employment and her role on the state board.
The state could save money by abolishing this useless agency.
A blogger in Louisiana described the situation as follows:
“One of the defenses for Kira Orange Jones’ elected position on BESE not being a conflict of interest was that her position with Teach for America was only as executive director “of the New Orleans area” – she didn’t hold statewide responsibilities. BESE members vote on and oversee contracts with TFA state wide, over $1 million dollars’ worth.
“Her own attorney convinced the state Ethics Board that her position was not a conflict of interest, because it “wasn’t statewide.” They over-ruled their own staff attorneys’ advice.
Now, Jones is “taking on new responsibilities “coordinating statewide operations” with TFA.
“According to Jones, now it’s not a conflict since she doesn’t sit on the “national” TFA board or is part of TFA’s “national” leadership team.
“When will this ridiculous word play end, and actual ethics rulings –based on their own staff attorneys — be enforced?
“Recently her attorney resigned as vice chairman of the Ethics Board because he himself had a conflict of interest in not revealing that he is aligned with Tulane, which is aligned with TFA. Apparently Orange-Jones’ very questionable position will continue to be protected and likely unchallenged.”
Florida is a close second. Disgraceful how FL Gov and FL Board of Ed handled Bennett scandal and resignation. Sigh.
Reblogged this on Crazy Crawfish's Blog and commented:
Not to mention Mira Orange Jones raised over 450 thousand dollars largely from out of state contributors like Bloomberg and PACs to swamp.a race where winners usually spend just a few thousand dollars historically. I have a listing of her donors from last race and their addresses, as well as a pile of TFA contracts to go through which have been approved during her tenure. I wonder how many of her out of state donors donated to TFA and got sweet Louisiana contracts in return? The ethics board should never have allowed such a figure receiving large sums of out of state money working for a national education organization that also recieves large unlimited donations to serve on a state board of education or approve any contracts for anyone. We truly have no ethics in Louisiana under Jindal.
Ms. Orange-Jones has, in the past, been signatory to $1million grants from BESE/LDOE in her capacity as N.O. exec. director. I am attempting to discover if Ms. Orange-Jones has continued as signatory to the ongoing contracts since election to BESE or if her signing responsibilities have been turned over to someone else to avoid the appearance of this obvious conflict.
The best description I have seen for Jindal’s Loser-iana, for both politics in general and the abysmal state of public education there under the influence of TFA’s Mr. White is this: It’s like The Twilight Zone taking place inside the Bermuda Triangle. Kafka himself would be speechless at the blind eyed impunity manifested in an absolute sense of entitlement by the cronies who hold sway there. No prose is too purple to describe their corruption and decadence.
Yes, it’s truly an amazing thing: no matter how cynical you think you are, these folks continue to surprise with their impunity.
I’m still looking for a state *with* ethics – are there any left?
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/dont-let-rhee-cheat-the.fb27?source=c.fb&r_by=6414286
Speaking of ethics.
In Louisiana the BESE Board, which Kira Jones sits on, John White and the Louisiana Department of Education operate in a bold state of lawlessness. They have no regard for policy, state and federal law and of course the public school children in Louisiana.
I’m really interested in this, but can someone explain this too me again? What is the job of the ethics board and what does TFA do? What exactly is the conflict with Orange Jones?
TFA = Teach For America … a good concept which is in the process of transforming itself into something quite different than was originally intended – it appears to be co-opted (or in the process of) see this article: http://articles.redeyechicago.com/2013-07-10/news/40497378_1_america-alumni-tfa-panel