Davis holds line against education leaders

Earlier this week, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis answered requests by Louisiana colleges for a partial waiver to the hiring freeze with a resounding “no”. One has to admire the stick-with-it-ness of the Commish, especially given this excerpt from a letter written by Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie.

For too long the administrators of our institutions have had to make tough choices and sacrifices simply because adequate funding was not available. It is somewhat ironic that now that funding is available, we may still be restricted in our ability to use those resources in securing the personnel so vital to our mission.

Davis’ Director of Communications, Michael DiResto (perhaps best known for his work on the Louisiana GOP’s “A Fair Fight” blog), responded that the process for requesting exemptions didn’t call for much in the way of time or effort. But since Davis has already turned down Savoie and the universities twice, they might not agree with that perspective.