BESE defers expensive teacher retirement study
In a rare move, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education overruled a recommendation by one of its own committees to fund an expensive study of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana’s Unfunded Accrued Liability.
BESE officers re-elected, new exec chosen
At its December meeting, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education selected Shan Davis as the new executive director. Davis, who has worked for the Department of Education for the past five years, replaces Heather Cope, who left to work in the Camden, New Jersey public school system.
The board voted to retain its current set of officers: President Chas Roemer, Vice President James Garvey and Secretary Holly Boffy.
Majority of LEAs failing instructional requirement are charters
Prompted by fears that the Ebola virus could invade Louisiana, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved emergency rules giving superintendents the authority to close schools or send students home if threats appear.
The August meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education was contentious, with members clashing over the future of New Orleans’ John McDonogh High School, accountability for voucher schemes, the Recovery School District’s $213 million budget and more.
Student privacy protection will cost $1 million
BESE plans to spend about $1 million to implement a law aimed at protecting the personal information of Louisiana school students.
A message from LFT President Steve Monaghan
Dear Colleague,
As the legislature returns to Baton Rouge for the 2014 regular session, let’s assess where we’ve been, where we are, and where we should be going.
No mandatory salaries in the new MFP
This week the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved an MFP Task Force report that recommends a 2.75 percent increase in the $3.5 billion formula, but does not specify that half of the increase should go to teacher salaries.
Reacting to an avalanche of complaints from the LFT, parents, school boards and others, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to stagger the implementation of Common Core standards, which will now not go into full effect until the 2025 school year. Previously, Common Core was slated to be fully operational by 2016.
At a marathon BESE meeting, board members punted the Common Core controversy to local school boards and teachers, ignored educators’ requests for help with curricula and resources, and promised little relief from a flawed and unaccountable Value Added evaluation model.
This month's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education got off to a rocky start, with member Lottie Beebe sharply criticizing the state for the way the Value Added Model of teacher evaluation is being implemented