Sen. Ben Nevers (D, Bogalusa), fresh from chairing a committee meeting on the morning of the last day of the 2011 Regular Legislative Session, sounded tired.
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| Sen. Ben Nevers (D, Bogalusa) |
But he also sounded excited at the same time, energy and adrenalin coursing when asked about SB 69, which was passed this week by the House.
“It’s a piece of legislation I’ve been working on for five years,” he told wpnewsblog. “It’s headed for the Governor’s desk now.”
Nevers said there were a lot of hurdles to getting the legislation passed, especially in a tough budget year.
“We got a lot of help from the Northshore delegation,” he said. “We got a lot of support from Dr. Joe May, from William Wainwright and Dr. John Crain.
May is president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, Wainwright is Northshore dean and regional director of the Northshore Technical College system and Crain is president of Southeastern.
What the legislation does is to create a new community college system on par with others in the state.
“The campuses in Bogalusa, Hammond and Greensburg can now offer associate degrees,” Nevers explained. “We can have locally enrolled students in high school working toward college hours and all of these can be applied to an associate’s degree or a baccalaureate degree.”
Nevers, a former educator and member of the Bogalusa City School board, said he could only imagine the frustration of someone, having gone through a course of study at one of the technical college campuses only to learn those credits are not transferable.
“The LPN course at Sullivan is a prime example,” he said. “I been fighting that nursing issue since the seventies, when I served on the (Bogalusa) school board. Our students can leave Sullivan and go to Mississippi and get more credit for their courses than we gave them in Louisiana.”
Nevers said he could only imagine what this will mean for the Northshore system.
“Right now, that region is the seventh fastest growing technical college system in the nation. I think this change will accelerate that (growth).”
Nevers was quick to point out that the change to a community college structure “takes no emphasis from the technical aspect of what we do.
“That’s the reason the nate is Northshore Technical Community College … to keep the technical component as well as add the community component. I believe this change will encourage students to stay in post-secondary education, rather than starting over.”
Nevers said he was hopeful he could persuade Gov. Bobby Jindal to come to Bogalusa, site of the state’s first trade school more than 80 years ago, to sign the legislation.
The Legislature adjourns at 6 p.m. today (Thursday).
(Published first at http://www.wpnewsblog.blogspot.com)
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