"We
have the responsibility as BESE members to find the most qualified
person to be superintendent," she said. "I know very little about John
White," except for what she's read about his experience as CEO of Teach
for America and an assistant superintendent in New York, "where his
primary goal was to close schools. The residents of New York were only
too happy to see him leave.
you got that right!
in the Monroe “News Star:”
BESE to name superintendent
11:23 PM, Jan. 10, 2012
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Walter Lee, DeSoto Parish schools superintendent. /
News-Star File
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January 11, 2012
BATON ROUGE — Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Penny Dastugue
wasted little time calling the new board into session to vote on
appointing John White, Gov. Bobby Jindal's choice, as the next state
superintendent of education.
BESE
members took office Monday, a week earlier than normal, and Dastugue on
Tuesday issued a call for a noon Wednesday special meeting for
"consideration
of appointment of the state superintendent of education."
The board's regularly scheduled meeting, in which members would normally take the oath of office, is scheduled for next week.
Dastugue
said there's no reason to wait. "I expect that there will be an
appointment" at this meeting, Dastugue said. "I think the members of the
board want to recognize John's credentials and what he brings as
superintendent. I think they're ready to make a decision."
At
least one member of the 11-member body says she will object to taking a
vote and if pressed, will vote against White, who is superintendent of
the Recovery School District in New Orleans.
Lottie Beebe,
3rd BESE District member from Breaux Bridge, says White lacks the
credentials as spelled out in state law, and she believes that instead
of trying to improve public schools, White would try to privatize as
many as possible.
Beebe said she expects "the vote will be 10 to 1. I'll be the 1."
"We
have the responsibility as BESE members to find the most qualified
person to be superintendent," she said. "I know very little about John
White," except for what she's read about his experience as CEO of Teach
for America and an assistant superintendent in New York, "where his
primary goal was to close schools. The residents of New York were only
too happy to see him leave.
"I've
heard a lot about choice," said Beebe, personnel director of St. Martin
Parish Schools. "I want a choice in the selection of superintendent."
She said that not opening
the superintendent's job to other applicants, including Louisiana
school superintendents, "is a slap in the face to them."
BESE member Walter Lee of
Shreveport said he's not surprised that Dastugue wanted to move up the
appointment of White, and "I think that decision is made." He said he
would join the majority of members in voting for White.
Until
the new board was seated, Jindal did not have the two-thirds vote on
BESE needed to select White. The governor actively campaigned for and
made contributions to candidates who would
support his idea of reform, which includes appointing White
superintendent.
Lee said he committed earlier that "if they had seven votes, I would be the eighth" in favor of White.
Holly Boffy,
3rd BESE District member from Youngsville, said she supports the
governor's choice and believes the superintendent should be seated as
soon as possible because "there's so much going on" in education.
The
legislative session is approaching, she said, as is a deadline for the
state to possibly file an application for a waiver that would allow the
state to use its own accountability program instead of No Child Left
Behind.
Also, the state needs a leader to properly implement the common core curriculum, Boffy said.
"We
need to get our team in place to deal with the so many things that are
happening," she said. "It doesn't surprise me" that Dastugue moved the
decision up a week.
Former
Superintendent Paul Pastorek resigned in May. Jindal expressed his
support for White at that time and, with Pastorek, brought him in to
head the RSD while he pushed for votes on BESE.
Acting
Superintendent Ollie Tyler's resignation will become effective at the
end of January. Dastugue said "when the appointment is made tomorrow,
Miss Tyler will decide with Superintendent White what she would do. I
expect she would step back into her assistant superintendent role until
her retirement is effective. That would allow for some transition."
Joyce Haynes,
president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, said she is
"disappointed they won't follow the process" of allowing other
superintendent candidates to apply "so we could be sure we get the best.
"They're
ignoring the process and a law passed by the Legislature" setting
minimum requirements for serving as superintendent, she said.
"Unfortunately, they can waive the requirements."
Educators
"shouldn't have to watch them run over us and appoint someone who just
came to town," Haynes said. "He's come down to privatize schools and
change them to charters. Next, it's vouchers."
Jindal
has repeatedly said one of his goals for this session is to offer
parents more choices so their children don't have to attend failing
schools.
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