Hodges now leery of Jindal reform

I looked at the title of this article, and thought maybe she had come to her senses. First paragraph - BAM! Turns out this lady is a bigger idiot than expected. Before taking oath of office, read the Constitution and understand it, you bigot. It's unreal we have people like Hodges contributing to this state's law making process.

WOW!...WOW!...Unbelievable! Somebody please take the shovel away from her. If you are a friend of her, please tell her to quit talking to the media....for a long time.

Wow. How embarrassing. The vouchers are wrong because they give taxpayer money to religious schools ... ANY religion. Did she not realize that once the door was open for one, it's open for all? Unbelievable.

This lady obviously has no idea what our founding fathers meant in separation of church and state. It's not separate only when it's not your religion, it's separate always. I don't think her knowledge base is good enough to even vote in a general election! Stop talking........put on lipstick.

Let's see... Vote a law into existnce then look at the details. I hope this is her last term!

OMGoodness!

So she read the bill after she voted......

"However, once you look at the details of the bill there were more questions than answers about the long term impact these changes could potentially have."

Good grief. She took it hook, line, and sinker. I do not live in her district, but if I did, a meeting with her would take place.

“The schools here in Livingston Parish are the very reason that over 80,000 people have moved here and we can not risk putting them in jeopardy,” Hodges said.

I guess she doesn't understand that her vote did just that. I'm realy trying to not resort to name-calling, but it's hard.

HA HAHA!!!! I was expecting something different too, BTRSaint. It's not the train wreck of the Bobby-Jindal "reform" she has a problem with, it's that the money might go to a Muslim school. What a piece of work.

Apparently, she took advice from Nancy Pelosi, "You have to vote for it to see what's in it".

This chick needs to GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Recal!!!!!!!!

I agree, get rid of this dingbat! Dumb and Dumber.....

How hilarious! It's fine to fund Jesus's schools but not Mohammed's?? Which constitution was this genius reading?

It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

It is sad to see people like this in elected office. Sit down, read the proposed legislation, and decided based on your judgment if you feel it will make your community better. This is what is wrong with our country right now. Republicans will automatically vote for conservative legislation and Democrats will automatically vote for liberal legislation without even reading the fine print and knowing what they are voting on. Sad but true.

She thought religion meant Christianity? How incredibly small-minded can one get?

This can be solved by using public money to support public schools, and religion (of any kind) should not be taught in public schools.

You are free to practice any religion you want - in private homes, private schools and religious institutions, supported by private money.

Not pleased with Representative Hodges voting record this past session or her response to contacting her office regarding legislation concerning state employee pension changes. Basically the response was a non-response of what her intentions were. Obviously she doesnt read the bills before she votes. I will be voting for another candidate if she runs again.

Maybe the people will remember her next election..... doubtful. Code.... you hit the nail on the head!!!!!

Wow. Why didn't you do your homework as a legislator before you jumped on the Jindal bandwagon for education reform? Now you are saying you're sorry and made a mistake. Your vote as well as others hurt the students in Livingston parish AND in your district. I think your constituents need to draft a recall petition to remove you from office because quite frankly, you voted to take money away from children in your own district! Thanks Val

The Sarah Palin of Livingston Parish.....Piyush told me it was the right thing to do and he will give funding for a project for district but I didn't read the fine print. What was these ladies qualifications....oh I know she said she believed in God and she was Republican. Guess the voters didn't do their job either so don't whine. When you elect someone solely based on party affiliation you get what you get.

Thank You Ms. Hodges for standing up for our children and the many families, who have moved into Livingston Parish to ensure that their children receive a quality public education. Many thanks to those legislators who did go out on the limb to vote against the education package, I read that they did receive underhanded lashings for their courage. Lastly, thanks to the Livingston parish school board members, who work in the background to protect our school system, they have a tough job that involves many tough decisions. Being a wife and mother of three children, 14, 13 and 8, my children are the direct recipients of the top quality that Livingston parish public schools offer and I am very confident that they are receiving the best education possible. Keep up the good work! Your loyal voter and supporter:)

I guess I missed the part where she stood up for the children and families that have moved to Livingston Parish to ensure that their children receive a quality public education. That voucher program she voted for does nothing to ensure quality public education, but rather shifts tax money out of the hands of public education and into the hands of private or religious based schools. In fact, from what I can tell she not only wasn't sure what she was voting on, but is now stating that she didn't understand it before voting on it and now isn't confident that she did the right thing. She also states that she favors using tax money to support religion, as long as that religion is Christian in nature but not if it is Muslim in nature.

I think most folks would agree that she should know what she is voting on before she votes on it, that she should be against using tax money to fund religion, and that supporting one religion over another makes her look like a bigot.

Someone who lives in her district, please start a RECALL! Any teachers?

"Guess the voters didn't do their job either so don't whine. When you elect someone solely based on party affiliation you get what you get."

Well, the guy who ran against her homeschooled all his children and made it part of his campaign that he wanted to take money from public schools. Hodges, on the other hand, visited the schools, sat in the principals offices and apparently lied to everyone that she was on the side of the public schools.

Just a couple of FACTS - NOT mentioned in the article!! If any of you would actually double check some things, you'd realize her last vote was a "NO" on HB976 which is the vote that counts - there were 39 amendments tacked on to it from the time it was first presented on the House floor!! you can go to www.legis.la.gov and check for yourself! She's done nothing but support the exceptional school systems here in Livingston Parish and District 64! I'm sure Superintendent Spears has decided the Livingston Parish will NOT participate in the voucher process, which is an option some of you probably didn't even know about. Why don't YOU start getting YOUR facts straight before you start bashing?
A big THANK YOU to Rep. Hodges for standing up for our great public schools in Dist. 64!

@Eagle91 - she voted FOR vouchers. She voted AGAINST the MFP funding because the muslims scared her.

She voted FOR vouchers that take money AWAY from our Good schools in Livingston. Only after she realized that muslim schools can get the same money as christian schools did she have second thoughts. She voted for vouchers that require Livingston Parish to give over $100,000 for students taking online classes and BESE won't tell us who they are! They told Livingston just "trust us"!

They scare me too!

Cindy LuHoo, freedom2012 - go to www.legis.la.gov and type in HB976
go to digest, You'll see at the top - house concurrent vote, which is the vote after all the amendments which is the final vote on the bill and determines whether or not the bill passes. Click on votes - you'll see she voted NO on the vouchers. Then she voted NO on the MFP, which was SCR99. Again, please get the facts straight. she stands up for our great schools in Dist. 64.
Try googling the Harmony Charter Schools in Texas, it will give you an eye opening account of where
$100 million of taxpayers money went in Texas. The New York Times and CBS news both have very informative articles about it.

OK, Ms. Hodges ... I mean Eagle 91 ...

Here's an article for you ...

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20120702/NEWS01/307020006/In-line-vouchers-DeRidder-school-linked

Cindy LuHoo, sorry to disapoint you, although I am a supporter of Rep. Hodges, I'm mostly a conservative who followed this session closely because there were so many big issues. One of the main reasons my family moved here 5 yrs ago was because of the great schools, so I was concerned about my kids education with this whole voucher issue. That's when i got informed and used the legislative website to watch the session when i could and to follow up on the major bills being voted on - it was definitely an eye opener. Overall, our Representatives did a good job in protecting our schools. I just read the article - BESE has a alot of work to do!! I'm so thankful we moved to Livingston.

Explain this one Eagle91

http://legis.la.gov/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=784080

That is final passage, from your source...

Instead of going to digest go to votes.

I stand by what I said. She should know what she is voting for before she vote, she should be agains the unconstitutional use of tax money to fund religious education, and if she is going to favor the support of religion she should refrain from favoring one religion over another.

What Code said! This is an embarrassing article. She and her supporters can try to spin it any way they want, but her ADMITTED lack of understanding of basic concepts such as of freedom of religion and separation of church and state is appalling.

Eagle91 -
Bobby wowed her and got her vote. Truth - she hurt LP schools. My family has been here five generations not five years and have been involved with the school system for 75 years. Ttalk to anyone at the central office and they will tell you the facts. Your name isn't Valerie is it? Many are very disappointed with her (you).

There has been a huge influx of people moving to Livingston Parish over the past several years. Most of those people would say that at least in part the quality of education was why they came here.

A huge influx in students combined with an almost constant reduction in funding for our schools, with this voucher program as the finale, will result in the downfall of the very schools you came here for if it has not already done so.

Eagle91 Support who you want. It makes me no never mind who you support, but don't come here getting up on your high horse about people not having their facts straight when you, like Ms. Hodges, failed to read the whole thing before you stepped up and put your two cents worth on the table.

If the truth be known I voted for Schexnayder, who also voted for HB 976. I am no happier with his vote than Ms. Hodges' constituents should be with hers.

If he hopes to have my vote in his next election he has some splaining to do, and I would recommend that he put more thought into it than Ms. Hodges seems to have before he does the interview though.

What I think he will do though, is not say a word and hope everyone forgets about HB 976 by then. I will not.

Last thing I'm going to say about this ... I work for Livingston Parish Public Schools. I believe that this year, when school performance scores come out in October, we'll be fine, higher than last year. After that, for the 2013-2014 school year, John White and Jindal have changed the formula for which schools will be scored. Historically, everytime there is a major change in the formula, our scores initially drop and work their way back up. I'm predicting that some of our schools may drop to a "C," which will make them eligible for parents to leave with vouchers. It's all part of the plan to tear apart our schools ... and she fell for it. Oh, and once they can leave with vouchers, even if the school scores an "A" the next year, it doesn't matter. Once they can leave, the vouchers plan is permanently available.

CodeButhcher, yes the inititial vote for HB976 before it went to the Senate, the last vote, the concurrent vote which is the vote that determines whether it will become a law was a NO! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just don't like the unnecessary bashing. From what i followed on the website, you couldn't pay me enough to have been in any of their shoes this session. Believe what you want, Livingston Parish has some of the best representation in the state and I think they did a great job this session. I'm done.

Post a link to that concurant vote you speak of.

Unless I am totally off the mark the way it shakes out is that she voted for the original bill. After all the senate amendments sho voted no when asked if she agreed with them "concurrance".

So, which senate ammendment added the voucher program?

Clay Schexnayder's opponent - Laura O'Halloran held forums trying to get the voucher program rammed down our throats!!! Sovoting for her would have been worse! These were also the same people that made up the infamous slate # 3 at the GOP caucus, and no one was gonna vote for the "Voucher Slate"!

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has now picked up the story about Valarie Hodges. Rob Boston has written an excellent article at http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/louisiana-revelation-school-voucher-funding-it-s-not-just-for-christians.

Now the fun begins, any religion can start a school and no rules on what they must teach. A scam artist's dream for taxpayer money. Gee we could fund a Hindu school, a Voudon school, how about a Santeria school,then we have all those neoPagan groups. Maybe some one could start a Satanist school. Anything is possible and the taxpayers get to foot the bill. As they say be very careful what you wish for, you just might get more than you expect.

Religion does not mean just Christianity. Remember that we have just about every religion in the world in this country,many that you have never heard of. Each and every one of them now has a right to start a school and have the taxpayers pay for it. There are no requirements about what they must teach. There are going to be some very strange schools spouting up

Whoops! I was trying to be a bigot but then realized I helped my enemy.

What a hoot. How do you get to be a legislator when you know nothing about how to read a bill? Boggles the mind. Somebody pays this woman?

You mean not all religious people are Christian? Hope she doesn't hear about Jews.

Reverence for the Founders should include reverence for the non-establishment provision of the Constitution, ya think? Many of our founding people came for freedom of religion, not freedom of specifically Christian religion. A simple Google search would show Rep. Hodges about the wide variety of religions practiced in the USA, even in Louisiana. There's a really big one practiced in LA that she would probably not approve of one little bit... time that the Voudoun practitioners open a technical academy with high standards for math and sciences.

wow... just wow. were all of the founding fathers openly christian? I would like a fact check on that. and our nation was built to allow for everyone to practice their religion without persecution and to allow for religious equality in the eyes of the government.
I mean the "under god" part of the pledge or allegiance was added after the fact. think about that. And it was originally penned by a baptist, christian socialist. Learn to not be a bigot and maybe people will not openly laugh at you.

I wonder what public or private school she went to that taught her there are only Christians in America...?

While I condemn her lack of research her biases and ignorance of American history are all too common in the United States. For one thing our schools teach OF the American Founders, but not much about them. Their religious beliefs were part of the equation. The vast majority of them were, indeed, Christian in name only. This is because it was common practice in the day to baptize them as infants - making them Christian according to the standards of the day - but it required an adult baptism to "confirm" them in the faith. The majority of the Founders did not do that, and many were openly Deists (Thomas Jefferson being the most famous of these). George Washington was famous for ALWAYS leaving the church during the service to avoid communion and being able to deflect questions about his religious faith (and, no, he never was "confirmed"). That's the history they simply leave out in our basic history education. The cultural patterns of the day are vital for understanding the birth of our nation, but it's left out. Sad to say, based on other comments here, she is a legislator genuinely concerned about the educational level of her constituents. Rather than a recall, make a demand on your legislators to take an in-depth course on American history and U.S. Constitutional law.

For all of the critics of Valarie Hodges I would like to present another perspective on the issue of Madrassas.

Twelve years ago I was living in a Muslim area in East Africa and personally had several life threatening encounters with Islamic people.

These experiences triggered a quest for knowledge about Islam and after studying the Qu’ran, The Hadith and the Sira as well as Islamic history for the past 12 years I can truly say America is totally blind to the hidden agenda of Islam and will pay a terrible price if the leaders don’t wake up.

While many critics may attempt to paint Valarie Hodges as an ignorant, bigoted, Islamaphobic, racist, those very same critics have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER ABOUT ISLAM.

Rather than write a 10,000 word essay perhaps I will just share a few home truths to jolt you out of complacency.

In Islam Muhammad is revered as the perfect man and the greatest role model for all of humanity.

Quran 33:21 "You have in (Muhammad) the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern of conduct for any one to follow."

Perhaps you don’t know that Muhammad had over twenty wives and the youngest Aisha was just six years old when he married her and she was nine years old when he consummated the wedding (He was then 54 years old).

Perhaps you don’t know that Muhammad raped a beautiful 17 year old Jewish woman named Safiyah only hours after he had killed her husband in front of her. This is is recorded in the Hadith of Ibn Ishaq, page 766.

After American journalist Daniel Pearl was beheaded by Radical Muslims in Pakistan in 2001, well known Muslim expert Mohamed Adam el-Sheik of the Dar al Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, Virginia told USA Today “Beheadings are not mentioned in the Qu’ran at all.”

Syrian born, Muslim Scholar Professor Yvonne Hadad of The Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, told New York Newsday, “There is absolutely nothing in Islam that justifies cutting off a persons head.”

Sadly the gullible American press bought the lie.

The Qu’ran 8:12 reads:

Your Lord inspired the angels with the message: I am with you. Give firmness to the believers. I will terrorize the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks and every joint and incapacitate them. STRIKE OFF THEIR HEADS and cut off each of their fingers and toes.”

These two Muslim scholars were simply following the Islamic practice of “Taqiyya” which justifies lying to non-Muslims to advance the cause of Islam.

Perhaps it’s time that the critics of Valarie Hodges woke up and did their own homework as the agenda of Islam is nothing less than TOTAL World domination.

The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran who led the great Islamic revolution in 1979 said, “ The governments of the world should know that Islam cannot be defeated. Islam will be victorious in all countries of the world, and Islam and the teachings of the Quran will prevail over the whole world.”

He was simply obeying the words of Allah.

Qur'an 8:39
Fight them until ALL opposition ends and ALL submit to Allah.

I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat and have no political gain in supporting Representative Hodges but know she is far more on track than many of our political leaders.

Please wake up America.

It has become abundantly clear in the eleven years since 9/11, that even those who thoughtfully or factually criticize Islam in America can expect to be reflexively smeared as “bigots”, “racists” or “Islamophobes”.

In our country we have often heard the “racist” and “religious intolerance” card played by Islamic leaders and yet few Westerners would know that:

• Only Muslims may be citizens in Saudi Arabia.

• No non-Muslim place of worship may be built
in Saudi Arabia

• The practice of any religion except Islam is
forbidden in Saudi Arabia

• No Non-Muslim is allowed to enter the City of
Mecca.

• No Jew is allowed to set foot on Saudi Arabian
soil.

• Mohammad the Prophet decreed that if any
Muslim would turn his back on Islam he
should be put to death. This is straight from
Islamic Scared Text, the Hadith of Bukhari.

Bukhari:V4B52N260 "The Prophet said, 'If a Muslim discards his religion, kill him.'"

Today Muslims who turn from Islam to any other religion are charged with apostasy and beheaded publicly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia .

Can you just imagine the public outrage in America if some lunatic Christian church wanted to execute members who left their organization?

They would be shut down in a heartbeat.......so why is it that we turn a blind eye to the insane barbaric behaviour of Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia.

Where is the outrage from the Western Media?
Where is the outrage from the Western political leaders?
Where is the outrage from the Church leaders in America?

THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING !!!

Why do we even give airspace to Muslim leaders who whine and moan about intolerance in the West while they have established the most ruthless, totally intolerant, hypocritical religion in history?

While they squeal like a stuck pig about Western intolerance or discrimination against Muslims, their own laws prove that Islamic nations are the most intolerant and discriminatory nations on earth.

Egypt passed a law in 1926 known as Article 10 (4) of Egyptian Nationality Code which states that immigrants who want to become citizens are required to belong “racially to the majority of the population of a country whose language is Arabic or whose religion is Islam.”

Imagine the global outrage from Muslim nations and the spineless liberal media if America closed the doors to any further Muslim immigration and yet this is EXACTLY THE LAW THAT IS ENFORCED BY MUSLIM NATIONS AGAINST THE WEST.

The hypocrisy of Islam is NEVER ENDING.

Perhaps the critics of Valarie Hodges might like to re-think their views on funding Madrassas.

Wake up America.

What COUNTLESS NATIONAL ARTICLES by publications on the right AND left, liberal AND conservative are ticked off about is regardless what anyone feels about Islam, that is NOT the point. The point is she VOTED TO GIVE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS STATE MONEY. So drop the argument against Islam, she voted to fund them too.

What was McVeigh's religion again?

Sorry to disappoint you "sandeeds" but Timothy McVeigh was born into a Roman Catholic family and later professed he was an agnostic.

Trying to link McVeigh with Christianity is like saying Adolf Hitler was a Christian.

Ask yourself this when was the last time heard a news report of a terrorist shouting out "Jesus Akkbar" before self detonating in a crowded restaurant.

Sandeeds you stated "So drop the argument against Islam, she voted to fund them too."

Unfortunately you have confused the facts as Valarie Hodges did not vote to fund the Muslim Madrassas.

She voted for vouchers. She voted against funding them through the MFP because she found out that Muslim schools could apply for vouchers. She has admitted that she would be all for it if only Christian schools could apply. As plainly, and as simply as I can put it ... SHE DOESN'T GET IT.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Adolf_Hitler

@America2012, what you're failing to see is that critics of Ms. Hodge fault her for supporting measures that would bring about a Saudi Arabia-like state. Not a monarchy perhaps but a theocracy the same way that Saudi Arabia is a theocracy. Iran is actually a much better example of what leaders like Ms. Hodge seem to not understand that they are moving toward. There is a blindness in their vision that is disturbing.

Pardon me - my phone has changed "Hodges" to "Hodge" is the post below

All those who voted with Jindal should be recalled.

Hodges voted for something out of ignorance, she then regrets it - out of ignorance again. I pray she gets her walk right.

Jindal is a crook!

Ignoring Ms. Hodges bigotry and ignorance of the first amendment (and her own state constitution's similar guarantee), she might be shocked to know that not all early American settlers were Christian (of many denominations):
•
Many of American's 5 million Jews date back centuries. From a population of 2000 Jewish residents in 1790, mostly Dutch Sephardic Jews, and Jews from England, the American Jewish community grew to about 15,000 by 1840, and to about 250,000 by 1880.

•
And (satiric gasp), Muslims also play a role in our early history. Estevanico, a Muslim Berber (who was also black) from North Africa who explored the future states of Arizona and New Mexico for the Spanish Empire. In the latter part of the 1500's Moors came to the area that is now the Carolinas.

•
And I would be remiss if (and it is appalling that a resident of Oklahoma, with its huge Native American population is this ignorant) I didn't mention the Native American faiths that predate the invasion by Ms. Hodges ancestors of their land.

Maybe a Baptist in Colonial days said it best. In 1773, Isaac Backus, a prominent Baptist minister in New England, said "church and state are separate, the effects are happy, and they do not at all interfere with each other: but where they have been confounded together, no tongue nor pen can fully describe the mischiefs that have ensued."