Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers:
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Oct. 16
The Courier of Houma on state officials’ effort to improve flood response:
The state is undertaking an ambitious effort to improve its response to floods.
That is good news for all of Louisiana. The Louisiana Watershed Initiative is aiming to take a more regional approach to risk assessment, something that should allow for much better planning.
“As our state continues moving in the direction of a science- and data-driven approach to reducing flood risk for all our residents, it is critical that we hear firsthand from local experts about the challenges they face locally to inform this new approach represented by the Louisiana Watershed Initiative,” Pat Forbes, executive director of the state Office of Community Development, said in a news release. “Through this listening tour, we’ll gain an even greater understanding of how to advance our work to make informed decisions in the coming months and years that improve safety, save money and protect our state’s unique cultures.”
The important part of this process for local folks will be a meeting Oct. 23 in Gray. …
It is open to the public. … You can also check out watershed.la.gov.
The general idea is to implement a more regional way of thinking about flood risk rather than leaving that duty up to all the various parishes and other governmental entities. After all, flooding is something that crosses the artificial boundaries we have drawn on maps.
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This meeting is a good way for local officials and experts to learn more about what seems like a worthwhile effort that could lead to better way to protect homes, property and lives.
Everyone in south Louisiana is affected by flooding or the danger of flooding. We have to be aware of the best practices for keeping us as safe as can be. …
Online: http://www.houmatoday.com/
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Oct. 15
The Advocate on college cost barriers for African-Americans:
Sending a student off to college is at once the wisest investment a family can make but it is also an expensive one, particularly in Louisiana, where average incomes are low and college tuition has skyrocketed over the past decade.
A recent study from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities found that Louisiana had the highest percentage increase in tuition since the 2008 stock market crash, when many states both cut aid to public colleges and raised the costs of attendance on families.
That’s not a good list to be on, but there is an important consequence of this trend for a state like Louisiana with a large minority population: college access and family incomes.
A college education is an instrument of social mobility in America, and Louisiana’s African-American families are on average poorer than their white counterparts.
In 2017, the latest year for which data is available, the CBPP analysts found that the average tuition and fees at a public four-year university would require almost 20 percent of the median family income in Louisiana.
For a black family, it is almost 32 percent - a significant differential, and one that ought to have implications for policymakers.
The good news is that Louisiana is providing more access to two-year community colleges and technical education, a typically cheaper entry into post-high-school education.
Further, Education Superintendent John White has made it a cause to push all students in high schools to complete the federal student aid application. That provides not only a practical avenue for aid but a nudge for students, even in poorer families, to contemplate education beyond high school.
But the dramatic increase in tuition and fees at colleges is a real barrier, despite commendable efforts to both generate more qualified students from high schools but also provide more need-based aid for qualified applicants to colleges.
All that costs money, and another bit of good news is that cutbacks in state aid to colleges have stopped for the moment during the administration of Gov. John Bel Edwards.
Still, as the CBPP report said, costs to Louisiana’s black families are high: “The burden of college costs is particularly heavy for households of color, whose members often face additional barriers to employment and difficulty accessing better-paying jobs.”
One of the CBPP analysts, Michael Mitchell, said that college cutbacks affect who succeeds in college. A student from a poorer family may be on the cusp of making it if there is robust counseling and tutoring, or just mentoring. “When those things are reduced, those students struggle a lot,” Mitchell told reporters.
That is why tuition increases alone are not the solution to money woes in colleges, for they greatly burden students from poorer families. State aid to colleges, so sharply reduced in Louisiana over a decade, give college leaders less and less flexibility to fund the support services that will make a difference for students from poorer families.
Online: https://www.theadvocate.com/
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Oct. 16
American Press of Lake Charles on the secretary of state election:
The campaign to replace Louisiana’s third highest ranking state official, the Secretary of State, has attracted little attention as the Nov. 6 election creeps closer and closer. How we got to this point, though, was anything but quiet.
Tom Schedler, who was Louisiana’s chief elections official, resigned in May amid a sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against him by a former female co-worker. The lawsuit was filed in February, alleging Schedler harassed the woman for years and punished her when she rebuffed his repeated advances. Schedler’s spokeswoman said the pair had a consensual sexual relationship; the woman’s lawyer denied that.
Last week it was announced that Louisiana has agreed to pay the co-worker $149,075 to end the lawsuit and Schedler will personally pay her $18,425 on top of that, according to the state Division of Administration.
The November special election will fill the remaining year of Schedler’s term and in the meantime his former first assistant, Kyle Ardoin, has moved into the job.
Ardoin, a Republican, is running on the ballot to stay in the position. The other eight candidates are Republicans Heather Gould, A.G. Crowe, “Rick” Edmonds, Thomas J. Kennedy III and Julie Stokes; Democrats Renee Fontenot Free, a Lake Charles native, and “Gwen” Collins-Greenup; and Matthew Paul “Matt” Moreau, no party affiliation.
Political donors haven’t seemed to be in a hurry to break out their checkbooks for this race.
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There’s even less optimism when it comes to voter turnout with political operatives for the campaigns telling the Baton Rouge Advocate they estimate in the 18-20 percent range - that’s about 600,000 of the state’s 3 million registered voters.
Looks like the ultimate winner of the seat will be the one who can energize voters, but there’s little time left to do that.
Online: https://www.americanpress.com/
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