While teachers face pay cuts, Landry stumbles through Greenland

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that Gov. Jeff Landry was the clear and logical choice for President Donald Trump to appoint as his special envoy to Greenland, that it just made perfect sense — like Planters, when Mr. Peanut applied for a job.

Let’s also envision an outcome in which Landry managed to orchestrate an unprecedented feat of diplomacy during his Arctic trip this week. Fences mended, agreements reached, prosperous and secure futures ensured for all. 

Even if this dream MAGA scenario were reality, it would still be difficult to justify the governor’s absence while the state’s K-12 teachers and school support workers face pay cuts next school year. 

That’s because Louisiana voters soundly shot down Amendment 3 in Saturday’s election, which would have allowed the state to dissolve three education trust funds, use the money to pay off teacher retirement system debt early and clear the way for local school districts to give teachers and staff a permanent pay raise.

This was the plan Landry backed to replace temporary stipends public school employees have received for the past three years. But the ballot measure flopped, along with four other constitutional amendments the governor endorsed. 

The proposals became a de facto referendum on Landry following his abrupt decision to suspend the U.S. House races following the Supreme Court decision to reject one of the state’s majority-Black congressional districts. The opposition campaign was particularly well received in New Orleans, where voters are miffed over Landry and Republican lawmakers blocking an elected clerk of court from taking office.     

The governor made his first public comment on the failure of Amendment 3 in an online post Monday from Greenland. 

“In light of Amendment 3 falling short, I want to make it very clear — if our teachers don’t get a permanent raise this year, nobody in state government gets a pay raise. I mean nobody,” Landry wrote in an X post.

That’s not the tone you expect from a diplomat, and it’s not a message from someone interested in finding solutions. It’s the succinct rant of a sore loser who, instead of seeking a stopgap, punted the problem over to the legislature, which has less than two weeks to finalize the state budget for next fiscal year.

The latest version of the budget has raises for state prison guards, added Thursday despite the governor’s social media decree. If this version gains final legislative approval, it will be worth watching whether Landry stands by his word when exercising his line-item veto power.

Rather than work with the legislature to at least give the appearance of caring about teachers, the governor frolicked in the frozen tundra to stay in the fickle favor of President Trump.

Even through the kindest lens, Landry’s trip to Greenland was a clumsy attempt at statesmanship. Children refused the red MAGA hats he was handing out, and even his wholesome offer of endless cookies at the Governor’s Mansion for Greenlandic visitors turned into fodder for Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielson. 

Nielson told a Danish TV network the territory has no interest in an official allegiance with the United States “no matter how many chocolate cookies we get,” The Times-Picayune reported.

It would be nice if our public school teachers could get some of those cookies, or better yet the resources to buy some of their own. Instead, they aren’t even being offered crumbs by a governor who left the kitchen when things got too hot.