There is something rotten in the state of Louisiana. It smells so bad that the Department of Justice has picked up on it, while we have learned to live with it.
In the beginning of his six-year governorship, Bobby Jindal looked to be the savior our state needed. Instead, higher, primary and secondary levels of education have suffered unfair, borderline-malicious cuts to their funding to balance our state budget. Jindal, his administration and legislators are thankfully realizing that these reductions are no longer sustainable, but have failed to produce an effective solution. In fact, their solutions only make the problem worse.
The most noteworthy solution gaining attention on the federal level is the controversial voucher program. In a nutshell, it allows students from failing school districts and impoverished areas to attend private schools using taxpayer dollars.  This sounds great on paper, but the reality is that this is a band-aid program; it doesn’t address the cause, only symptoms.
Instead of sending these kids to a “better” private school, legislators should re-invest in public schools.  Not all of the students enrolled in failing systems win the lottery and are able to attend private schools on someone else’s dime. This means the students left behind are effectively abandoned by the system on which their futures depend.  
What is contemptible, even shameful, is that the people of Louisiana have abided by this foolishness, even beyond the point of federal involvement. The Department of Justice is currently in litigation with the state of Louisiana over information regarding the voucher program, specifically whether or not the program makes private schools more racially integrated. The DOJ’s suit also aims to keep the program from granting vouchers next school year, unless a federal court first approves parents’ decisions about where they want their children to study. Even after all of this mess, it still gets worse.
Rather than cooperate, Jindal is capitalizing on the controversy to raise his national profile. Timmy Teepell, his political advisor, told The Advocate that the governor’s office has spent $500,000 on television ads criticizing Washington’s involvement. That money could have really done some good in a failing school district in desperate need of quality instructors, facility repairs and resources.
We’re stuck with Jindal until October of 2015, which gives the people of Louisiana a long time to think about what their state needs in a leader. I for one would be happy to see education revered and appreciated as it should be, not treated as the financial whipping boy. Hopefully we choose leadership in the next election that can utilize common sense, really any sense at all, when addressing a crisis. Often, if not always, the best solutions are long, difficult and expensive, and we should not shy away from them because they are not short, easy or cheap.
However, we exist in a democracy, and leaders don’t just volunteer for the job. When a wacko is put into office, it’s because we put him or her there. In the future, let’s not be so stingy with recall elections and much more so with our votes. We exist in a time where moving forward is key to our continued survival; that will only happen with the right leadership.