BY JOHN H. WALKER
L’Observateur

At a time when Louisiana’s technical college system is seeing record growth, the state is swinging sledgehammers at its financial foundation.

It’s a tough time in Louisiana, despite all of the talk we hear about how much better things are here than elsewhere in the nation.

Legislators are having to deal with budget reductions pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal and, as just about anyone will corroborate, what Bobby wants, Bobby gets.

Who gets cut and why is anybody’s guess, but one thing is for certain is that the Louisiana Technical College system has been whittling away at anything that could be termed as excessive in order to keep funding for education.

And that’s what it’s all about — education.

While some students populating LTC campuses are baby-faced and fresh from their high school prom, others are grizzled veterans of the work force who are trying to open another door to provide for themselves and their families.

How does that fit into the governor’s plan?

While the guv is gallivanting around the country, raising money for his next campaign, old Joe Brown is trying to learn how to weld — hoping he can remember some of the things his teacher taught him in ninth-grade shop — hopeful it will help him earn a little more money.

Whether it’s an automotive class or a nursing class, the technical college system in this state — the nation’s fastest growing — is working to prepare a workforce ready set of students.

We all know the traditional educational system, whether in the junior or senior college format, is not for everyone. The technical college system is on the front line of the battle and is sending workers into battle every day.

To cut funding for the front-line effort makes little sense and, if you are an employer, you need to contact your legislator to tell them the technical and community college system needs its funding left intact. If you are a product of that system, it’s imperative that you do the same.

At a time when we need more workforce training than ever before, it makes no sense at all to cut funds.

(John H. Walker is editor and publisher of L’Observateur and can be reached at (985) 652-9545 or john.walker@wickcommunications.com.)