BESE picks White as new La. school superintendent

Louisiana’s public education board overwhelming agreed today to hire Recovery School District leader John White as state education superintendent, despite blistering criticism that Gov. Bobby Jindal had too heavy a role in the choice and that White doesn’t have enough experience for the job. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 9-1 for White, whom Jindal has heavily pushed for the job since May. The vote came only two days after the board’s new term began, when a series of members who opposed hiring White were replaced by Jindal supporters. “It is deeply humbling to me that you have entrusted me to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of Louisiana children, and I want you to know I take the responsibility extremely serious,” White told the board after his hiring, which is effective immediately. The special meeting had been hastily called and lasted only an hour. After White was chosen, board members then approved a new contract that will pay him a $275,000 annual salary, if lawmakers agree. The decision was criticized because BESE didn’t do a national or statewide search or formal application process. Joyce Haynes, head of the Louisiana Association of Educators, calls it “poli-tricks.” Board member Lottie Beebe agrees it appears that politics, not competence, was the driving factor in White’s selection. She lost her bid for a search process. BESE President Penny Dastugue and other board members, however, say White has the experience to lead Louisiana’s education department and that the board didn’t have the money or time to do such an extensive search when it already had a qualified candidate.