Louisiana’s education superintendent has again received a positive job evaluation from the state’s top school board, which didn’t address criticism about his current contract arrangement.
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education reviewed John White’s performance in a four-hour, closed-door session today.
White announced he received a 3-point evaluation on a 4-point scale, which he described as an “effective: proficient rating.”
White is operating under a contract from 2012, granted by a previous BESE board. His opponents lack the two-thirds board vote needed to fire him, while his supporters don’t have sufficient votes for a new contract. He’s been working on a month-to-month basis since the new board’s term began in 2016.
Gov. John Bel Edwards and critics suggest White is in the job illegally, insisting he requires reconfirmation from the Louisiana Senate.
White, though, achieved a major victory on Tuesday when U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced she had signed off on Louisiana’s contested plan to redesign public school policies.
State education officials submitted the plan despite objections from Edwards, who called it an “incomplete vision for Louisiana.”
The plan, which was crafted by Louisiana’s education department for the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, changes the way student performance is measured in the state, toughening the method for calculating public school letter grades.
White called the federal approval of the plan “another step in a long process of collaboration and hard work by thousands of Louisianans.”
