The Archdiocese of New Orleans wants to use money earmarked to feed hungry families in southeast Louisiana to help settle legal claims arising from sexual abuse committed by clergy. When the leadership of the Second Harvest Food Bank refused to turn over $16 million, the archbishop fired the organization’s longtime leader and three board members. While Second Harvest is under the Archdiocese’s umbrella, the food bank has contracts with national funders that forbid grants from being used for anything other than addressing food insecurity. The Times Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Gabriella Killett reports:
“Our agreements with grant giving organizations and other partners prohibit any expenditures that are non-secular or do not directly align with our sole mission of feeding the hungry,” [Chairman Bert] Wilson added. “That the Archbishop has chosen to ignore these realities and jeopardize Second Harvest’s ability to fulfill its mission and honor its contracts is both shocking and short sighted.” … “Failing to adhere to the letter and spirit of that contract will effectively shutter operations and leave more than 400,000 south Louisiana residents at-risk,” Wilson’s statement said.
Louisiana ahead of curve on Trump’s education orders
President Donald Trump has issued a host of executive orders aimed at putting a MAGA stamp on the U.S. education system. Among other things, the moves target accommodations for transgender students, lessons about gender and racism and funding private schools with taxpayer dollars. As The Times Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Patrick Wall explains, Louisiana has already implemented most of the policies Trump is pushing:
Louisiana is hardly the only Republican-controlled state in recent years to charge headlong into the education culture wars, demanding that public schools reject liberal ideas about race and gender and insisting that parents are entitled to tax dollars to send their children to private schools that reflect their values. But Louisiana’s leaders view Trump’s orders as a tacit endorsement of their education efforts and evidence the state is in the vanguard of a conservative movement to reshape the country’s schools.
Wall explains why emulating Louisiana isn’t necessarily a good thing:
“It just reaffirms that Louisiana has been a proving ground for these extreme right-wing policies,” said state Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans. “It’s not about improving education, it’s about stoking division.”
Investments in early childhood education are paying off
Louisiana recently secured its highest ranking ever on a biennial student assessment commonly known as the nation’s report card. The state’s fourth graders’ best-in-the-nation improvement in reading is being largely attributed to new state literacy standards. Elena Lotano, in a guest column for the Times Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate, explains how Louisiana’s overall historic gains are linked to investments in early childhood education.
This incredible success, particularly in a state ravaged by crime, natural disasters and economic instability, is no small feat for the Pelican State. Since 2012, Louisiana has fundamentally shifted its education policy decisions to prioritize high-quality preschool for high-need communities and, in turn, has seen impressive improvements across the board. Louisiana’s pivotal policy decision to unwaveringly support early childhood programming for 4-year-olds from disadvantaged families plays a crucial role in its steady educational growth.
Reality check: Unfortunately, state lawmakers cut funding for early education during last year’s legislative session. A constitutional amendment on the March 29 statewide ballot (Amendment 2) would further reduce the number of early education seats in the state.
Trump tries to wrestle ‘power of purse’ from Congress
President Donald Trump’s move to freeze federal grants and loans earlier this week caused widespread chaos and a rapid backlash. While the order was ultimately rescinded, a White House spokesperson said that the broader effort to stop spending that the Trump administration opposes remains in effect. Invest in Louisiana’s Jan Moller spoke with WWL’s Tommy Tucker on the devastating consequences that the grant freeze would have on Louisiana.
“This hit states like a neutron bomb,” Invest in Louisiana executive director Jan Moller said to WWL’s Tommy Tucker. “Louisiana gets more federal funding on a per-capita basis than about any other state.” According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, more than 52 percent of Louisiana’s revenue comes from federal funding. Moller says Trump’s edict would have stripped the state of money it needs keeps schools, hospitals, and other institutions open.
The Washington Post’s Tony Romm and Jeff Stein report on Trump’s effort to upend a fundamental principle of the Constitution:
In the meantime, legal experts said the flurry of activity raised the odds of a high-stakes constitutional confrontation at the Supreme Court, with the potential to shift the balance of power laid out in Article I of the Constitution in which Congress, not the president, possesses the primary authority to tax, spend and manage the nation’s complex finances. “What is at stake is the most important structural foundation of our federal government, which is the separation of powers,” said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University, adding that the power of the purse “is how Congress represents us.”
Number of the Day
$8,724 – Monthly income that a family of four (two adults and two children) living in the New Orleans/Metairie metro area must earn to attain a modest yet adequate standard of living. (Source: Economic Policy Institute)