Louisiana Federation Of Teachers Taking Governor Jindal’s Education Reforms To Court

Louisiana’s largest teachers' union wants a state court to toss out education reforms recently passed by the legislature, and signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal.

Louisiana Federation of Teachers attorney Larry Samuel says they are challenging recently passed laws that are a part of the governor’s education reform package.

We're asking for the court to issue a preliminary injunction that will stop this process in its tracks. We're asking the judge to declare that these acts are null and void, and ultimately a declaratory judgment to that effect as well.

LFT president Steve Monaghan says one of  the two education bills, the private school vouchers measure, is a clear violation of the state Constitution.

The constitutional requirement, that defunding that goes through that minimal foundation program is supposed to go to public elementary and secondary education.

LFT also alleges the teacher tenure reforms bill contains multiple intents, including legislation that alters school board jurisdiction over teacher hiring and redefines the role of local superintendents, which they say again violates state law and legislative rules.

A written statement from the Governor's office calls the lawsuits a last ditch attempt to preserve the status quo.

LFT’s biggest complaint is the taking away of money from the state’s public school education fund and using it to pay for low-income students to attend private or parochial schools. Jindal says in a statement that holding up these reforms in court will only deny parents and students the opportunity to escape failing schools.