The head of the state’s Legislative Black Caucus says Gov. Bobby Jindal is trying to slow the redrawing of state education board districts in a bid to persuade board members to side with his choice for interim education superintendent. Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, says any members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education who feel pressured should call the U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the redistricting process in Louisiana. Jindal’s office didn’t immediately respond today to the accusation. Smith is displeased with Jindal’s pick to be interim education superintendent: John White, the 35-year-old, newly hired leader of the state-run Recovery School District, which oversees schools taken over by the state, mainly in New Orleans. Critics of the selection say White has too little education experience.
Meanwhile Chas Roemer, a BESE member from Baton Rouge, has sent out a letter to legislators and his fellow board members, outlining what he would like to see in the next education superintendent. “In a perfect world, the next state superintendent will be a high-quality CEO. He or she may or may not be an educator, but they can easily surround himself or herself with the right team to be certain that our goals are met and that the classroom provider’s needs are given priority,” Roemer says. He accused people who are saying the next superintendent needs to be an educator of using code words to mean they want to see “someone sympathetic to poor administration of our public school systems.”
