RSD head becomes new Secretary of Ed

17th January 2012   ·   0 Comments

By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted last Wednesday to promote John White to Superintendent of Education from the state, and gave him a pay cut.

His new salary of $275,000 amounts to “slightly less” than he garnered as RSD superintendent. Of course, his RSD contract also includes a $2,500-a-month housing allowance, that will continue in his new position.

Still, the state saved money overall. White’s predecessor Paul Pastorek had a $377,000 annual pay package, ranking him as the highest-paid superintendent among similar officials in the 16-state Southern Regional Education Board region.

Despite worries by his critics like former BESE member Louella Givens that White would pursue expanded state takeovers of local school districts, While pledged in a press conference to “work with local school boards” to improve education. Still, echoing the Jindal Admini­stration’s focus on having public dollars follow schoolchildren, White went on to say his team would “look very, very hard at how we’re communicating with districts. Too often, school districts are hearing from dozens of bureaucrats on a daily basis.”

His focus, he said, would be in asking the questions, “Do we have the most effective teacher in the classroom? How can we get rid of the bureaucracy and get it off the backs of teachers?”

The woman who defeated Givens in the November BESE runoff in New Orleans, Kira Orange Jones, not only voted for White’s appointment, but strongly endorsed it. In a statement to The Louisiana Weekly, she explained, “As I campaigned in my district this Fall, I heard from many who would have liked a national search to choose a new State Superintendent. Upon my election, I presented these concerns to the Governor and my fellow board members. If time was not a variable, if Ms. Tyler had not recently resigned, and if the Legislative Session were not bearing down upon us, my arguments might have been given more debate.”

“Louisiana has been in transition on its educational leadership for eight months and the work we have before us cannot wait another six months for an extensive search which may lead us right back to the person we have before us,” she continued. “Our children are waiting for us to solve problems and get about the work of improving their schools, now. While disappointed that we do not have more time, I am convinced we need to act now.”

“John White was extensively vetted when he was chosen to lead the Recovery School District and his performance in this role has been exemplary. As an educator, I believe Mr. White is the extraordinary leader we all thought he was when he first came to Louisiana, and he has proven he is committed to impacting outcomes for all children across this state. Across the country, John White has earned a reputation of excellence and putting children and their families first. I believe he will excel as our next State Superintendent.”

White takes his role as Secretary of Education as the Governor reportedly plans to make a push for the RSD to expand the menu of choices for schoolchildren expanded be­yond the Charter System em­ployed by the RSD to include Private or Parochial Schools.

In other words, schools, or school districts like Orleans, taken over by the Recovery School District, would not only allow the per student funding to follow children to whatever Charter school they wish. The funds would be allow to go to Catholic, Denominational, or Non-Sectarian school that their parents choose. Provided, of course, that the school gives the State LEAP tests in the 4th and 8th Grades as public schools do.

Right now, the law allows BESE to close down failing schools, and provide full public school choice, either to traditional or independently run Charter schools. The new proposal would, outlined Jindal Admini­stration insiders, allow full school choice for students trapped in chronically failing public schools.

According to these sources close to the Governor, the proposal would, not only constitute the most ambitious voucher proposal ever enacted by a state, but would be first step to allowing parents to opt out of the conventional public system and use their tax dollars to pay for private education for their children.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers, and other Teacher’s union groups have vowed to fight Jindal in the legislature in the spring. Most of the Governor’s opponents contend that they have already lost the battle on BESE. Orange Jones told The Louisiana Weekly of her support for letting the money follow the child. “What’s important is whether the child gets a good education, not who is operating the school.”

Emphasizing that Charter Schools are Public Schools (an assertion not without controversy), Orange Jones was quick to say, “I don’t have a problem if its a private or parochial school, as long as it does the job…We have seen that there are some private schools that don’t educate well. They should be denied funding. But, those that do teach, ought to have the right to educate our children.” Even if the money comes from the state.

It is a position on which White, so far, has been very circumspect in commenting.

This article was originally published in the January 16, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper