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The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is an administrative policy-making body for elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was created in the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention, called by then Governor Edwin W. Edwards, and codified as Article VIII of the resulting document, the 1974 Louisiana Constitution.
BESE provides leadership in setting the education agenda for public education with an emphasis on student and school achievement. BESE also pushes for greater funding of public education. [1]
The BESE consists of eleven total members: eight elected members from the eight BESE districts [based on the former eight congressional districts, since reduced to six] along with three members-at-large appointed by the governor. The elected members serve four-year terms, concurrent with the governor.
In 2007, the board appointed Paul Pastorek, a former BESE member, as the Louisiana state education superintendent upon the death of Cecil J. Picard. Pastorek resigned as superintendent in 2011. [2] In 2012, eight of the eleven members were required to confirm Governor Bobby Jindal's appointment of John C. White as superintendent. White is an advocate of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, [3] which encompasses educational vouchers, charter schools and in-depth teacher evaluations. [4]
The powers and duties of the State Board can be broadly grouped into six main categories, which include:
The Board has other more specifically defined duties assigned to it by law. These include:
On March 8, 2017, BESE adopted new science standards for elementary and secondary schools, the first updating in twenty years. The standards encompass the Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008, which protects academic freedom for teachers and students considering scientific subject matter, such as the age of the Earth, human cloning, and global climate change. Louisiana State Representative Beryl Amedee, a Republican from Gray in Terrebonne Parish, had taken the lead in petitioning BESE to include the science education act in the formulation of the new standards. [6]
Five of the following members currently represent the 8 BESE Districts in Louisiana:
The following members were appointed (or re-appointed) in January 2020 by Governor John Bel Edwards:
Most of the members were elected with "heavy investment and support" by the interest group, the Louisiana Federation for Children. A nine-member board majority has supported school vouchers and charter schools. [11] [12]
Murphy James Foster Jr. was an American businessman and politician who served as the 53rd governor of Louisiana from 1996 to 2004.
Edwin Washington Edwards was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 7th congressional district from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms, twice as many elected terms as any other Louisiana chief executive. He served a total of almost 16 years in gubernatorial office, which at 5,784 days is the sixth-longest such tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history.
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III was an American politician, investor, and banker who served as the 52nd governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988. In March 1991, while serving as governor, Roemer switched affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is an American politician who served as the 55th governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Republican Party, Jindal previously served as a U.S. representative from Louisiana from 2005 to 2008, and served chair of the Republican Governors Association from 2012 to 2013.
The Louisiana School for the Deaf is a state school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Louisiana, located in Baton Rouge, the state capital. It was established in 1852 as a joint school for blind students. In 1860, its first purpose-built facility was completed and admired as an elegant monument to philanthropy. The schools were divided in 1898, and in 1908, Louisiana School for the Deaf was renamed.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with publicly funded preschool, K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed by the governor appointed Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education. The agency is headquartered at 333 Market Street in Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania Department of Education oversees 500 public school districts of Pennsylvania, over 170 public charter schools (2019), Career and Technology Centers/Vocational Technical schools, 29 Intermediate Units, the education of youth in State Juvenile Correctional Institutions, and publicly funded preschools. In 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Education employs approximately 500 persons.
Central is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, second largest city in East Baton Rouge Parish, and part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. The state's newest incorporated city in April 2005, Central had a 2020 census population of 29,565.
Southern University Law Center is a public law school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is part of the historically black Southern University System and was opened for instruction in September 1947. It was authorized by the Louisiana State Board of Education as a Law School for blacks to be located at Southern University, a historically black college, and to open for the 1947-1948 academic session.
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is the state education agency responsible for interpreting and implementing laws relevant to public education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Public education in the Commonwealth is organized according to the regulations adopted by the BESE, which are good faith interpretations of Massachusetts state and federal law. The BESE's responsibilities include granting and renewing charter school applications, developing and implementing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), submitting yearly budget proposals for public education to the Massachusetts General Court, setting the standards for and certifying teachers, principals, and superintendents, and monitoring—as well as intervening to ameliorate—the achievement of underperforming districts in the Commonwealth.
The East Baton Rouge Parish School System, also known as East Baton Rouge Schools or the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, is a public school district headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. The district serves most of East Baton Rouge Parish; it contains 54 elementary schools, 16 middle schools, and 18 high schools. The EBR Public Schools district is the second largest in the state.
Eric LaFleur is an American attorney and politician. A Democrat, LaFleur is a former member of the Louisiana State Senate for the 28th district, serving from 2008 until 2020. Earlier he was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 38 from 2000 to 2008. He was first elected without opposition to an open seat vacated by Dirk Deville. He was re-elected four years later in 2003 with 81 percent of the vote.
Recovery School District (RSD) is a special statewide school district administered by the Louisiana Department of Education. Created by legislation passed in 2003, the RSD is designed to take underperforming schools and transform and make them effective in educating children.
East Feliciana Public Schools is a school district headquartered in Clinton, Louisiana, United States. The district serves students in East Feliciana Parish.
Central Community School System, (CCSS), is a school district headquartered in Central, Louisiana, United States, in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. This district serves more than 4,500 students in the City of Central. There are five schools within the Central Community School System: Bellingrath Hills Elementary (PK - K), Tanglewood Elementary School (Grades 1 - 2), Central Intermediate School (Grades 3 - 5), Central Middle School (Grades 6 - 8), and Central High School (Grades 9-12).
Jeffrey Martin Landry is an American politician and attorney who is the governor-elect of Louisiana, having been elected in 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he has served since 2016 as the 45th attorney general of Louisiana and as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2013.
Thomas Greenwood Clausen was an educator from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who was the last elected state superintendent of education, a position which he filled as a Democrat from 1984 to 1988 during the third administration of Governor Edwin Edwards.
John Charles White is an American educator and public official who served as the Louisiana Superintendent of Education from 2012 to 2020.
Lottie Polozola Beebe, sometimes known as Lottie Beebe-Pearson, is the superintendent of public schools in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. In September 2018, the St. Martin Parish School Board declined to renew Beebe's contract as superintendent, but she showed up for work the next day on the advice of her lawyer, L. Lane Roy of Lafayette. Beebe claims the school board action is "illegal" and "political" in nature.
Mark Johnson is an American attorney and politician who served as North Carolina's Superintendent of Public Instruction for one term. A Republican, he was first elected in 2016, narrowly defeating incumbent June Atkinson. Prior to his election as state superintendent, Johnson served for two years on the Forsyth County School Board while working as a lawyer in Winston-Salem. Prior to attending law school, Johnson taught at West Charlotte High School for two years with Teach for America. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for North Carolina lieutenant governor in 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), "Results mean change", The Baton Rouge Advocate , February 2, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2012.