YatPundit’s Pub 23-April-2019 JazzFest and Public Schools
JazzFest and Public Schools in Jefferson Parish are on tap at YatPundit’s Pub 23-April-2019
YatPundit’s Pub 23-April-2019
Strong brews in the pub this week! JazzFest approaches, so let’s talk about its past and future. Early voting is open for local elections to be held on 4-May. One of the items for consideration is a property tax renewal in Jefferson Parish that’s for public schools. We’ll talk about the complicated history and relationship between public and private schools in #themetrys.
Da Fest
Alabama Shakes performing at NOJHF in 2017 (courtesy Nicholas Henderson)
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is almost fifty years old. Are the Foundation and the producers catering to the wrong audience. After cancellations by septuagenarians Mick Jagger and Stevie Nicks, it looked for a while like a satire site said, “Karaoke Craig from Gennaro’s” would headline the 2-May fest date. Rather than tapping an act that appeals to a younger crowd, such as Alabama Shakes (in the photo), Da Fest replaced Fleetwood Mack with Widespread Panic.
It’s not all on the Fest, though. Hotels and restaurants rely heavily now on Da Fest for booked rooms and tables. Is the NOJHF too big t fail?
Jefferson Parish Public Schools
There’s a property tax renewal on the ballot in Jefferson Parish on May 4th. It’s dedicated to schools. Residents of Jefferson Parish have an unusual relationship with their public school system. Initially, the schools were segregated, de facto. The small African-American population lived in specific neighborhoods. Local “districting” kept them out of the majority-white schools. Then federal lawsuits and consent decrees brought court-ordered busing to Jefferson Parish. Racial balance was the goal. By then, however, the Catholic schools in the parish created almost a de jure segregation system. Between requirements related to religion and tuition/fees, white folks kept their schools white. Forty years later, this complicates generating revenue for public schools.
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