Jindal reappoints three BESE board members

Gov. Bobby Jindal announced today the reappointment of his three picks for the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education: John L. Bennett of Port Allen, Connie Bradford of Ruston and Penny Dastugue of Mandeville. The BESE board is comprised of 11 members, three of whom are appointed by the governor. “We’re excited that Penny, Connie and John will continue to serve on BESE. They are leaders on education reform. Over the past few years, they’ve supported a bold agenda to improve Louisiana’s education system, including letter grades for schools and a new teacher evaluation law. They know that in order to provide our students with a high-quality education, we need to build on our past reforms and provide more choices for parents of kids trapped in failing schools, reward excellent teachers and support poor-performing teachers who want to improve, and give school districts more flexibility to spend dollars effectively,” Jindal says in a statement. “Our kids only grow up once, and I know that Penny, Connie and John refuse to sit back and let another generation of kids drift through a failing school system. The bottom line is, these folks know the status quo is unacceptable, and they are ready to get to work right away with our new reform team on BESE to improve the education system for our kids.”