Since Bobby Jindal and his loyal henchman John White started their war against Louisiana’s public schools and their teachers, the judicial system has proved to be the best line of defense for defenders of the public interest.

Jindal’s two major pieces of legislation were declared unconstitutional by the courts. One ruled that it was illegal to take money away from public school funding to pay for vouchers or private vendors (called “course choice”). Another declared the omnibus anti-teacher law unconstitutional on procedural grounds.

Thus far, the legislature appears less willing to bow to Jindal’s demands to renew his vendetta, maybe because his poll ratings have dropped into the 30s.

Here, Mercedes Schneider describes the multiple lawsuits filed against John White and the Louisiana Department of Education.

White simply won’t release the data that researchers use to analyze school performance (without student names) yet is more than willing to share confidential student data with inBloom, the Gates-Murdoch collaboration.

As usual, Schneider nails the key issues.

Many people in Louisiana are fed up with a Bobby Jindal’s war on the public sector.

A rally is planned for April 30.

For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Mike Stagg, Forward Louisiana
Phone: 337-962-1680
eMail: mstagg@forwardla.org

Enough Is Enough!
Louisianans to Rally For the Common Good on April 30th

BATON ROUGE — Thousands of Louisianans will gather on the steps of the state Capitol April 30th calling on the Legislature to reject Governor Bobby Jindal’s distorted and discredited policies and adopt a pro-common good agenda.

Rallying under the banner of Enough Is Enough, people from across Louisiana will gather on the steps of the state Capitol at 11 am on April 30th to reclaim our history, our culture, our infrastructure and our government. Our governor has conducted reckless social experiments on the people of Louisiana in a desperate attempt to position himself for a run for the Presidency of the United States. The human toll has been staggering. In rejecting these policies, the people of Louisiana have said “Enough Is Enough!”

The Jindal record is one of coddling corporations with tax exemptions, tax cuts for the rich, shifting the burden of government onto working families, attacking the job and retirement security of state workers, turning public education into a casino for private school operators, and dismantling essential public health infrastructure for the benefit of private interests.

The Governor’s arbitrary decision deny more than 500,000 Louisiana citizens access to health coverage under the Medicaid expansion undermines the health security of every Louisiana citizen by denying essential federal funding to healthcare providers across the state.

The refusal to participate in Medicaid expansion, combined with the privatization of the LSU Charity hospitals without provisions being made to care for the uninsured sets the stage for a fiscal, medical and human catastrophe in Louisiana.

Everyone is invited and encouraged to come to the Capitol in Baton Rouge at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30th, 2013 to declare that “Enough Is Enough.”

Angelina Iles of Pineville, the founder of Enough Is Enough, said that after months of battling Bayou Health on behalf of her disabled brother, the proposed closure of Huey P. Long Medical Center was the final straw.

“What I learned through Bayou Health was that this was a system set up to benefit the companies that run it, but not the patients in need nor their families,” Ms. Iles said. “If I’d have let them have their way, my brother would be dead now. I would not let that happen. I can’t sit idly by and let this Governor destroy the public hospital system that belongs to us all.”

The Coalition has come together around these ideas:
We The People have rejected this Governor and his policies.
We appreciate the value of public education.
We know that we are one paycheck away from needing the services of a public hospital, or one illness away from bankruptcy.
We want public employees treated fairly.
We want higher education to remain affordable for all Louisiana families so that pathways to prosperity are not locked off behind gated communities.
We want a Louisiana where everyone has access to the basic resources and tools we will need to build successful lives here.
We want families with children with disabilities to have access to services, not waiting lists.
We want children with behavioral health issues to get the treatments and care we need to grow up to be productive citizens.
We want those with mental health issues to have access to care, regardless of our income.
We want environmental protection that safeguards the health of our communities and the natural treasures of our state, not the interests of corporate polluters.
Bobby Jindal’s policies have undermined all of the above and more. WE ARE COMING TO BATON ROUGE TO BEGIN RESTORING OUR STATE.

“The Legislature needs to catch up with the people,” said Mike Stagg, Baton Rouge coordinator of the rally. “If Legislators don’t restore balance by bringing in more revenue in a fair and responsible way, these legislators will own these cuts and they will have the same kind of unpopularity the Governor is experiencing today.”

The coalition organizing the event includes religious leaders, civic and social leaders, teachers, students, public employees, retirees, mental health, public health and social services advocates, and supporters of Medicaid expansion , from every geographic region of Louisiana.

Louisiana has had enough of Bobby Jindal and his policies of comforting the comfortable and afflicting the afflicted.

We will make that message loud and clear on April 30th and we will offer Louisiana a clear path forward. Please come and join us.

For additional information on the rally, visit Enough Is Enough on Facebook. The event website can be found at http://www.louisianashadenough.org

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