Facilities Bill Part 1: Legislature Steps Up!

As we have written previously, the school facilities in Louisiana are in dire need of repairs, maintenance, renovation, or new construction. Many of our students go to school in buildings that are literally crumbling down around them. The Louisiana Statewide School Facilities Authority bill, SB 584, would help resolve some of these issues. It would assist local districts in constructing new buildings and renovating existing ones by providing funds from the federal government and private sources. The legislature just passed the bill with a majority in the House (75-23) and the Senate (30-2), and it now awaits the Governor’s signature.

This isn’t the first rodeo for the Louisiana Statewide School Facilities Authority bill. The process of getting this bill into law started in the 2007 Legislative Session. Then-Senator Cheryl Gray saw the immense need for better school facilities and passed a resolution creating a task force to look at best practices from other states on school facilities. One of the recommendations of the report generated from the resolution was that Louisiana should create a statewide school facilities authority, like 41 other states have done. Senator Gray and then-Representative Karen Carter Peterson introduced legislation in 2008 to create the Louisiana Statewide School Facilities Authority. It passed unanimously in the House and the Senate. The bill was subsequently vetoed by Governor Jindal on the basis that he believes school facilities are a local responsibility and that the state has many obligations that it cannot currently fund like deferred maintenance on roads and state buildings. Not to be deterred, Senator Gray and Representative Peterson re-introduced school facilities legislation in 2009. This bill passed with a majority in the Senate and then was killed late in the session in the House Appropriations Committee.

We are very proud that the Legislature has recognized three years in a row that school facilities are an issue that will not go away. Students are currently suffering in buildings that are freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer. Everyday they go to buildings that have lead paint chipping off the ceiling, mold covering the walls and bathrooms that don’t work. They cannot wait any longer. It is time for our principals, teachers and students to be able to focus on their school work rather than the building that is falling down around them.

We can only hope that Governor Jindal realizes that state buildings and roads can wait—the children cannot. Let’s make the third time a charm and sign the bill into law!

Stay tuned to this blog for upcoming details after the Governor (hopefully!) signs SB 584.