Let's get back on track, why SG people are fighting (very long)

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St. George battle long in the making

By Rolfe McCollister
Published Dec 9, 2013 at 6:00 am (Updated Dec 10, 2013)
There is a lot of debate, anger and finger-pointing regarding the proposal to create a new City of St. George. There are studies being commissioned and secret meetings to figure out the impact and how to stop the movement. But the breakaway effort is not the problem or the cause of the problem—it is just a symptom and inevitable reaction to a larger problem this community and its elected officials have failed to address for decades: poor schools.


This train has been coming down the tracks for years and picking up steam. Everyone seemed to be just fine with it as long as its route remained to the north. Baker got its own school system. Then came Zachary. You couldn't blame them—but where was the opposition then?


The Central community saw the benefits to Zachary and wanted control of their schools too—and freedom from the dysfunctional EBR school board. Who can blame the parents for that? But for the wrong reasons, the Legislature thought they could force Central to remain in the EBR system, thereby protecting the turf and money for the EBR board instead of addressing the real problem: quality education. Kip Holden, then a state senator, argued that Central wasn't a city (which is not required by law to have an independent school district). It was a ruse, and one Central overcame simply by creating a city. So they got their school district—and parents in southeast East Baton Rouge Parish, many of whom are paying a private tuition, or considering it versus moving to Livingston or Ascension, were jealous. Can you blame them?


If EBR wouldn't fix the schools, they wanted control of their schools and their own system too. So they too went to the Legislature. The train was rolling. "Local Schools for Local Children" (now City of St. George) approached the Legislature like everyone else for an independent school district—not a city. And legislators denied them a vote by the people—twice. The opposition was led by members of the black caucus, who listened to the pleas of the EBR school board (and the unions) to protect the status quo. Legislators didn't learn from Holden's mistake on Central: They said they "can't support you because you are not a city."


Big mistake. Mayor Kip Holden may have been willing to give up Central, but can he live without the Mall of Louisiana? After a second defeat, southeast EBR had their hand forced by the legislature and EBR School Board and started the petition for a city. Those legislators may now cost the city $60 million a year in lost revenues as estimated by one study. Not a smart move.





Our community leaders and elected officials have to look in the mirror—and at our history—to see how we got in this predicament. It didn't just happen in 2012 and 2013.


We have had mayors McHugh, Simpson and Holden say, both in campaigns and in office, that the schools are not the responsibility of the mayor-president. They said that is the job of the school board. Well, that attitude has left our city and parish with (potentially) five cities and five school districts within our parish lines and children who can't read or graduate.


But it wasn't just our mayors who had blind spots and divided loyalties and failed to stand up to the powers that be to avoid the current situation we find ourselves facing. Over the years, too many community leaders had a "go along to get along" policy and played nice with the education establishment and elected officials. When school board members like Pat Smith said they could see the light of educational improvement at the end of the tunnel, too many believed it, not realizing that light was the oncoming train gaining steam.


A defining moment in this whole sorry history for me was in 2001. His name was Scott Shirey. A Teach For America teacher in Baton Rouge who became a KIPP Academy Fellow and approached our school board to open a charter school in north Baton Rouge. He was denied by our school board and shown out of town thanks in part to Pat Smith—who is now Rep. Pat Smith and leads the opposition to the new ISD for southeast EBR in the Legislature. In 2011, Forbes Magazine listed Shirey as one of the world's seven most powerful educators. He has been featured on 60 Minutes. He now heads four schools in one of the poorest areas of Arkansas—and they send kids to college.


But did leaders in our own community believe in KIPP and reform, and did they gather to campaign for Shirey 12 years ago? Or did we leave it up to the school board and assume things would get better?

Put another way, the seeds of discontent that have grown into the battle today over St. George, began in 2001 and prior. Back then, community leaders and mayors could have taken a risk, embraced change and embraced school choice—but we didn't. We let others, such as Smith, determine our future. And now we let her do it again in the Legislature, killing the bill for a vote on the new ISD. She may be gloating of her political prowess and her union friends may be smiling, but the stakes are even higher, and the consequences of her politics then and now still harm children—and may impact the finances of the city.


If we had fixed our school system by being innovative and if we had held leaders accountable, would we even be having this debate on the City of St. George? I think not. (Remember, the group came to the Legislature two years ago as Local Schools for Local Children.) Instead we wasted time turning over school board members, changing out superintendents and throwing money at the same old system. So how long did we expect parents to wait?


The train has been picking up steam for years and made stops in Baker, Zachary and Central. And if it is successful in stopping in southeast EBR, don't be surprised if the next destination is south Baton Rouge.


The current debate did not emerge overnight and it is not just about folks living in southeast EBR. Education matters to our future, and folks aren't going to wait or settle for old, tasteless government rations. They will revolt for something better for their children – and many don't want to move or pay tuition and taxes. I can't fault them for that. But I will ask those behind "St. George" to consider re-focusing on their original purpose—an independent school district—which I support. They may find that many see things more clearly now.