BESE agrees to decrease school mandates, gives White favorable evaluation

Louisiana’s state school board agreed today to shrink the number of mandates required of local districts, despite concerns the move would let schools eliminate counselors and librarians to cut costs. Superintendent of Education John White proposed changes to 150 different sections of policies governing school systems. They include eliminating the statewide school calendar and changing physical education standards to allow credit for extracurricular activities like cheerleading and participation in marching band. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education backed the changes with no discussion, after making modest adjustments a day earlier in a committee meeting. Also Wednesday, BESE gave White a favorable annual evaluation, after grading his first year on the job. The evaluation discussion was held for more than an hour in a closed-door session, and board members didn’t release specifics about the review. The board also gave final approval to modest changes in the state’s method for evaluating public school teachers. Teachers will receive more information at the start of the year about their student growth targets, and principals will have the ability to make slight adjustments to scores for teachers who rank in the middle range of performance. Also, as approved in the mandate shrinkage, schools can sidestep requirements for how many counselors and librarians they must have, raising concerns that schools will consequently do away with such jobs altogether. White says the changes will let educators decide what they need at their schools and remove outdated regulations. To read more, click here.