Did Lafayette’s School Board Violate State Law? – Wingin’ It Wednesday

This week on "Wingin' It Wednesday", panelist Mike Stagg, Warren Caudle, and Tom Angers, in for Carol Ross, joined "Nathan and Bernie in the Morning" to discuss the school board's violation of the open meetings law as well as climate change.

Here's what the panel had to say:

1. The Lafayette Parish district attorney says the parish's school board violated state law April 23 when it passed a resolution opposing legislation that would force the district to provide free bus rides to charter school. Your thoughts.

Mike Stagg started us off:

This is not the first time the board has had trouble with the open meetings law.
The problem here is that a lot of people involved with the school system have forgotten what the issue is about and which is the education of children and not the politics involved. It’s another indication that politics has come to dominate the operation and coverage of the board.

Warren Caudle posited:

Is the board overstepping their bounds or not doing what they’re supposed to do? Is the superintendent overstepping his bounds or not doing what he’s supposed to do? What is the function of a board? Politics is all involved.

Tom Angers said:

The open meetings laws are some of the best laws in this country. The publics right to know, have notice, and participate in the debate is an essential element our democracy.
Politicians as we know historically have strived to go in the corner and do business away from the public. Anything the public and the press can do to prevent and reverse this is a good thing.

2. A new White House report is painting a grim picture of global climate change.  The national climate assessment says climate change is already prompting extreme weather in many parts of the country.  Your thoughts?

Warren started us off:

The climate continues to change and it always has the question is what are we going to do about it?
The real part of this climate thing, is this man made? I think the manmade cause of climate change is less than one half of one percent.

Tom added:

I think climate change is in fact very real. It’s a scientific issue. Some people are trying to make it a political issue, but there’s an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that climate change is real.
The discussion about greenhouse gasses, one thing we can do is ship away from oil to natural gas. Discharging natural gas emissions will greatly reduce global warming.

Mike concluded:

We are the canary in the coal mine in a lot of ways. Terrebonne Parish is disappearing, yet some of the staunchest deniers of climate change are in Terrebonne Parish. The oil and gas industry fund the politicians that don’t believe in climate change.
We are gradually moving away from oil, the question is whether we will do it quickly enough or not.

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Now it’s your turn to tell us what you think about today’s Wingin’ It Wednesday topics. Who got it right, who got it wrong, and who was way off? Let us know in the comment section.