Gov. Jeff Landry holds a copy of state laws as he speaks in the Louisiana House of Representatives on the opening day of a legislative special session, Nov. 6, 2024, at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate, Pool)
Science frequently takes a backseat in Louisiana, with politics or religion often steering state leaders instead – and not in a good, “Jesus, take the wheel” way.
The latest instance involves Gov. Jeff Landry’s choice to single out students who were evidently instructed to write to him for a school assignment.
Landry went on social media Feb. 18 to share emails received from three students. Screen captures showed two submissions from Tangipahoa Parish and one from a West Baton Rouge student, although the governor said they came from a single school.
“Look at the emails we received from students at a school in Hammond,” Landry wrote. “A teacher required students to email our office to complain about climate change.”
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The governor’s office concealed the students’ names and their school from his Facebook post. My editing is minimal on the comment forms they submitted online to the governor’s office:
- “My teacher says climate change is bad, sorry to bother you,” one Tangipahoa student wrote.
- “[M]y teacher made me sent (sic) this to you,” the other Tangipahoa student wrote. “[I]t for a grade, add more vet for cat and dog, and stop make power plant because it hurt earth.”
- The West Baton Rouge student wrote: “idk my teacher is making me do this but I mean you need to fix the whole cancer ally (sic) thing.”
Landry didn’t specify whether he received more messages with this tone, but three was apparently enough for him to make broader assumptions.
“As I stated in my inaugural address, our education system is too focused on indoctrination instead of education,” the governor said. “… It is NEVER the job of a teacher to push a political agenda. We are committed to bringing common sense education back to our classrooms!”
Common sense, or at least the governor’s version of it, apparently ignores broad scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming. Sea level rise and more frequent severe weather events are the evidence staring Landry and the rest of Louisiana square in the face.
I would hope the governor would actually look into the specifics of things before he starts just badmouthing teachers, badmouthing school systems and using students to score political points.
– Brett Duncan, Tangipahoa Parish School Board
It’s inconceivable that Landry would disregard the abundant data that prove climate change is indeed real. But if he did accept that premise, it would mean he couldn’t go after an unidentified teacher and three students to score political points with those who are either uninformed or in blissful denial.
It’s notable that Landry used redacted public documents to make his point, given his history of seeking exemptions from the state’s sunshine laws for his own records. That includes when he was attorney general and sued a reporter to keep her from receiving records that revealed one of his top assistants had sexually harassed coworkers.
One parent at last week’s Tangipahoa Parish School Board meeting wasn’t pleased with the recent governor’s tactics, according to a report from The Daily Star.
He said his son wrote one of the messages Landry highlighted, and he had a problem with the governor using his son as “a political pawn.” He and other students were just following an assignment that involved science and civics, the unidentified parent told board members.
“Instead of wanting to engage students, [Landry] wants to vilify a teacher and use the child as a political pawn,” the parent said.
“I’m OK if there’s a handful of liberal teachers in our schools,” he continued. “It’s fine. We shouldn’t be narrow-minded in one direction. We shouldn’t read exactly what the politician says we’re supposed to read. That is really anti-American and anti-education.”
The parent had at least one ally in school board member Brett Duncan, who said he didn’t appreciate being “blindsided” by the governor. Duncan said Landry didn’t reach out to the board to learn more about the assignment or teacher in question before their Feb. 25 meeting.
“In the future, I would hope the governor would actually look into the specifics of things before he starts just badmouthing teachers, badmouthing school systems and using students to score political points,” Duncan said.
That’s pretty good advice, though it’s not likely the governor will follow it. That would require him to accept certain facts that might not jive with his political stances.
This episode is even more disappointing when you hold it up against Landry’s justifiable pride in his mother’s work as a career educator. However, he seems to hold little regard for her profession based on his jump to uninformed conclusions on Facebook.
At the very least, we should expect our governor to be above using disgruntled adolescents to gain political mileage. For that lesson, he deserves a failing grade.
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