As the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education prepares to meet Wednesday and decide on when to submit Louisiana’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan to the U.S. Department of Education, Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister is urging BESE to approve the plan now and submit it in April—and not delay until the fall.
“There have been countless meetings and forums statewide, and State Superintendent of Education John White says he is ready to submit the plan in April, so parents and schools know what to expect and can plan for next year,” McCollister writes in his latest column, noting new BESE President Gary Jones supports White on the April submission. “Gov. John Bel Edwards and his ‘shadow committee’ of teachers union reps and establishment folks want to delay the submission until September in hopes of watering down the standards. This is the same old tactic they have used for years to protect the status quo and their jobs.”
McCollister also points to a recent Daily Report guest column by Dr. Phillip Rozeman, a Shreveport physician and co-founder of the Alliance for Education, who notes presentations on the plan have been made to more than 200 organizations and comments received from more than 1,000 individuals.
“Rozeman also agrees with White on the April date and says, ‘We don’t have to wait for Superman to have school improvement in Louisiana. Louisiana’s plan is committed to supporting great teaching and high expectations of students … There is a lot of work to do. We need to get started,’” McCollister writes. “I agree and encourage BESE to approve the plan and the April submission.”
Also in his new column, McCollister says the Louisiana Legislature should consider an innovation for colleges and universities based on the charter school model in K-12—a charter university.
“We figure out how to identify the set funding amount, and then provide them the freedom to operate completely outside the Legislature’s governance and many state regulations. They take the risks and make all decisions—and control their destiny in the free market,” McCollister writes, adding he recently shared the idea with House Speaker Taylor Barras, House Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger and Sen. Sharon Hewitt at a Louisiana Board of Regents seminar.
McCollister says, “They realize something has to change. If the legislators can’t solve the problems for universities, then maybe they should set them free.”
Read the full column, in which McCollister also expresses his condolences to the family of Sheriff’s Deputy Shawn Anderson, who was recently killed in the line of duty. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
