Two BESE members resign

BESE members John Bennett and Penny Dastuge—who had been BESE president for the past two years—have both submitted their resignations to Gov. Bobby Jindal, effective today. “In 2012 Penny and I agreed to remain on BESE for an additional year for the purpose of providing continuity and support. We had a new state superintendent and several newly elected board members along with an unprecedented legislative education reform agenda,” reads a prepared statement by Bennett, who’s been principal of St. Aloysius Catholic School for 28 years. Dastugue has been a BESE member for nine years, and says in her resignation letter: “Other than my role as a wife and mother, I consider my nine years on BESE and the five years representing you on the behalf of Louisiana’s students, families and educators the most important work of my lifetime.”