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At least one Louisiana lawmaker wants to give parents a better understanding of what their children are learning in school.

State Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, has introduced House Bill 75 in advance of the regular legislative session that starts March 14. It would require public schools to post outlines of class materials and activities for students in a way parents easily can access the information online.

The bill states each public school governing authority shall prominently post on its website “a list of material and activities for each school under its jurisdiction, organized by school, subject area, grade level and teacher.

“The list shall include bibliographic information for each item, including the title and author of the material and the organization associated with an activity and its internet address, as applicable,” according to the bill.

HB 75 also would require the same procedure for “the full text or a digital version of any material or activity created by the public school governing authority or a teacher,” as well as “any policies and procedures for documentation, review, or approval of such materials and activities.”

The legislation would require the information to be posted by the first day of school and updated annually by Jan. 15, and for schools to notify parents each time it is updated through written communications.

The reference to “activity” in the bill refers to lectures, assemblies, presentations and other student instruction conducted by the school or “an outside individual or organization.”

The proposed law would apply to all public schools, including charter schools.

The bill comes amid a flood of complaints from public school parents nationwide regarding a wide range of issues, including critical race theory, graphic sexual books, sex education curriculums and other issues. Heated school board meetings in many states that centered on those issues and pandemic policies prompted the National School Boards Association in October to liken parent protests to “domestic terrorism” and seek intervention from the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.

Similar curriculum transparency proposals have been introduced in numerous states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Wyoming.

In states with Republican-controlled legislatures and Democrat governors, the latter have vetoed curriculum transparency bills citing the burden on schools to comply.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed House Bill 1332 because he said state law already gives parents access to school materials through public information requests and described the bill’s requirement for posting online course materials as “not only duplicative, but overly burdensome.”

Wolf also insinuated nefarious motivations behind the effort.

“This legislation is a thinly veiled attempt to restrict truthful instruction and censor content reflecting various cultures, identities and experiences,” Wolf wrote in his veto message. “My Administration is committed to creating a safe learning environment for all students, and we will not take part in this dangerous and harmful imposition.”

In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers, the former superintendent of public instruction, blamed the cost of complying with Senate Bill 463’s directive to post curriculum, lesson plans and assignments online for his veto.

“I object to the bill’s failure to provide the necessary funding to implement these measures,” Evers wrote in his veto message.

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the Police Department at 985-380-4605.
Thursday, Feb. 17
6:34 a.m. 700 block of Fourth Street; Complaint.
8:14 a.m. Siracusa high rise; Assistance.
8:15 a.m. 600 block of General Patton Street; Complaint.
9:36 a.m. 4000 block of Railroad Avenue; Traffic.
9:40 a.m. 3100 block of Tammy Drive; Complaint.
10:49 a.m. 7500 block of La. 182; Animal Complaint.
10:56 a.m. 900 block of Fourth Street; Hang Up Call.
11:56 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.
11:57 a.m. 900 block of Marguerite Street; Complaint.
12:03 p.m. 7300 block of La. 182; Accident.
1:09 p.m. 800 block of Brashear Avenue; Complaint.
1:47 p.m. Area of Ken-neth Street; Complaint.
1:50 p.m. 500 block of Railroad Avenue; Assistance.
2:20 p.m. 1400 block of Railroad Avenue; Animal Complaint.
3:02 p.m. 100 block of Oak Street; Disturbance.
3:18 p.m. 1900 block of Federal Avenue; Accident.
3:35 p.m. 500 block of Bowman Street; Theft.
3:36 p.m. Greenwood Overpass; Complaint.
4:16 p.m. 7200 block of La. 182; Complaint.
4:32 p.m. 6700 block of La. 182; Assistance.
4:38 p.m. 1100 block of Victor II Boulevard; Accident.
5:33 p.m. 1600 block of Chestnut Drive; Theft.
6:17 p.m. Area of La. 182; Complaint.
6:21 p.m. 7500 block of La. 182; Complaint.
7:17 p.m. Area of Terrebonne Street; Frequent Patrol.
7:54 p.m. 300 block of Wren Street; Complaint.
8:03 p.m. 1100 block of Brashear Avenue; Complaint.
8:12 p.m. Area of Rus-so’s Boat; Frequent Patrol.
8:33 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.
8:42 p.m. 7500 block of La. 182; Theft.
8:49 p.m. Area of Brownell Homes; Complaint.
9:43 p.m. 6300 block of La. 182; Theft.
10:12 p.m. 1600 block of La. 70; Accident.
10:36 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Assistance.
Friday, Feb. 18
12:38 a.m. 6200 block of La. 182; Assist Berwick.

BATON ROUGE—On the final day of the redistricting session, the Louisiana House and Senate passed bills Friday that turned back efforts to expand minority representation and preserved the current balance of power in the state’s congressional delegation and the Legislature itself.

After extensive negotiations, both chambers advanced amended congressional maps, sending two identical bills to Gov. John Bel Edwards’ desk. Black lawmakers immediately called on Edwards to veto at least the congressional map.

The Legislature's U.S. House map divides St. Mary Parish between the 3rd District, represented by Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, and which currently covers the entire parish, and the 6th District, represented by Garrett Graves, R-Baton Rouge.

Most of west and central St. Mary would remain in the 3rd, with a narrow slice extending eastward into the Morgan City area. The 6th would include southeast St. Mary and a sliver in the extreme eastern portion of the parish.

HB1, authored by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, and SB5, authored by Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, came out of closed-door negotiations with a compromise: south of Alexandria, the map is faithful to Schexnayder’s proposal, north of Alexandria, the map is faithful to Hewitt’s proposal.

The Senate passed the amended version of HB1 along party lines with a 27-10 vote.

Across the hall, the House passed the amended SB5 by a vote of 64-31, with three Republicans joining Democrats to vote against the bill and one Democrat voting in favor of passage.

Notably, Rep. Travis Johnson, D-Vidalia, voted against the bill. Johnson, a conservative Black Democrat, had been in the hot seat with his party after voting in favor of Schexnayder’s similar congressional bill earlier in the week.

Rep. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, was the lone Democrat to vote in favor of the bill.

Both chambers advanced maps for the Public Service Commission, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and Louisiana House and Senate with relatively little fuss. None of the bills that passed increased minority representation at any level.

The next stop for the bills is the governor’s desk and then probably a courtroom.

Both the House Democratic Caucus and the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus issued statements after adjournment asking Edwards to veto maps.

“These Congressional maps do not comply with the Voting Rights Act, and they do not comply with the will of the people. Therefore, the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus is requesting that the Governor veto SB5 and HB1,” the group said in a statement.

“This is another sad chapter in Louisiana’s long history of suppressing minority representation in government,” Democratic Caucus Chairman Sam Jenkins said. “We urge the Governor to veto the Congressional map and any other map that violates the Voting Rights Act.”

Rep. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Gray, and Rep. Michael Firment, R-Pollock, voted against the GOP-led congressional bills, citing their frustration with how some of the parishes they represent were split between districts.

Firment was overheard by an Advocate reporter on the House floor saying that he would “seriously consider” sustaining a veto in an override session.

There has been much speculation about whether Gov. Edwards, a Democrat, will veto some of the maps. Edwards has said that he was not overly concerned about the Public Service Commission or Board of Elementary and Secondary Education districts but has said that he thinks it is fair if two of the state’s congressional districts are majority Black.

Edwards also released a statement following adjournment.

“I remain adamant that the maps should reflect the growth of the African American population in our state over the last 10 years, allowing for minority groups to have an opportunity at electing candidates of their own choosing, and I do have concerns that several of the maps do not fulfill that moral and legal requirement,” Edwards said.

Throughout the 2 1/2-week session, Republican leaders have steered the bills toward limiting Black-majority districts to the number that exists now, deflecting a number of alternative maps proposed by Black Democrats that would have added a second majority-Black congressional district and two additional majority-minority districts in the state Senate.

Republicans nationally do not want to lose any congressional seats as they attempt to take control of Congress in the midterm elections, and state GOP leaders hope to reach supermajorities in both chambers in the Legislature.

The 27 votes in the Louisiana Senate for the congressional redistricting plan on Friday would be enough to override a veto by Edwards. But the 64 votes in favor of the plan in the House fell short of the 70 votes that would be needed to override a veto.

Even if Edwards signs off on the maps, they are likely to end up in court. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has said that if the Legislature declines to increase minority representation, it is likely to be in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices or procedures on the basis of race.

The group has argued that if lawmakers could draw more minority districts, and decline to, they are putting themselves in peril of losing lawsuits and being forced to redraw the lines.

Sixteen congressional maps were filed by Black lawmakers, each showing a different way to add a second majority Black district. These bills would likely be referenced as evidence that the Legislature had the ability to add more minority representation.

The Legislature declined to vote on Supreme Court maps.

The only Republican bill that would have increased minority representation through redistricting, a Supreme Court proposal authored by Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Central, was killed on the House floor Wednesday, prompting its author to give his fellow lawmakers a tongue-lashing.

“We’ll just continue to get by here in Louisiana, because we are too stupid to work together,” Ivey said in a no-holds-barred condemnation.

“The apathy throughout the state is evident in each of you when you fail to act, when you can, when you should,” Ivey said. “I’ve bit my tongue over the last nine years, and I’m not going to do it anymore.”

“I tell people this institution is the laziest group of people I’ve ever worked with because it’s true, because we’ve got problems everywhere and we don’t want to solve them,” Ivey said.

The Eagle Expo boat tours to have been operated by Capt. Billy Gaston have been canceled due to illness.

Captain Caviar’s tours, the refuge tours, the Friday night social and Saturday’s speakers are still business as usual, Cajun Coast Executive Director Carrie Stansbury reported.