Robichaux Calls Out La. Fascists, While Scott in Florida Pays Corporations to Privatize Schools
New Orleans has a defender of democracy in Orleans Parish School Board President, Thomas Robichaux. Robichaux is clearly aware that as the public space recedes in these late days of casino capitalism, corporate fascism advances, and he is unafraid to say as much. He is also keenly aware that for schools to be public, they must have public governance. For all intents and purposes, the vast majority of corporate charters, whether for profit or non-profit, fail this crucial test.
Robichaux is as insistent as anyone, arguing that public education is not really "public" unless local voters have a say in who governs it. Charter schools in New Orleans, he says, should answer to the local board, not a state board that meets most of the time in Baton Rouge and has only two members with constituents in the city.
Robichaux takes the argument further than most, though. He worries that Gov. Bobby Jindal is out