La. DOE offering virtual town hall meetings on reform plans

For those who aren’t able to catch one of state Superintendent of Education John White’s town hall meetings, being held throughout Louisiana to discuss education reforms being implemented statewide, the Louisiana Department of Education is launching a virtual version of the meetings to be held this month. During the 90-minute virtual meetings, White will provide an overview of “Louisiana Believes”—an 18-page document on reforms that you can see here—and will respond to questions submitted via email before and during the live broadcast. The first virtual town hall meeting will take place Tuesday at 6 p.m., with three others to follow: May 11 at 4 p.m., and May 14 at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The live broadcasts will be accessible via the Education Department’s website at Louisianaschools.net, and archived videos of the meetings will also be posted there. “In just over a week, in just four parishes, we’ve had the chance to talk to more than 1,000 teachers in Town Hall meetings,” White says in a release announcing the virtual town halls. “These virtual meetings will provide us with more opportunities to collaborate with our educators to devise a plan to achieve what we know is possible for every child.” You can submit questions to White prior to the virtual town halls via email at louisianabelieves@la.gov. Get all the details on the virtual meetings, as well as a schedule of the physical meetings that will continue to take place throughout May, here.