Louisianans have a chance to start improving education on October 22nd



NOLA.com

In Louisiana, we lament constantly about the poor state of education.  One article that has ignited a quiet but intense discussion is a piece by Sarah Carr of The Times-Picayune from September 25th.  The piece covered the Louisiana Board of Regents' move to require no remedials of college bound students who wish to attend state four-year universities (LSU, LSU-Alexandria, LSU-Shreveport, Southern, Southern at New Orleans, Grambling State, Louisiana Tech, UL-Monroe, UL-Lafayette, Northwestern State, McNeese State, Nicholls State, SLU, and UNO) as of fall 2014.  As a result, the Black community has had an intriguing discussion about what this means for Black students.  Truth be known, it affects all students, but the Black community tends to be most adversely affected by major education policy changes.  The question I raised on the October 1st edition of "Real Talk" is whether or not this is forcing educational accountability or excluding communities from the higher education landscape.

The issue, to me, is that the people who often put these kinds of policies in place do so in a bubble.  Louisiana's elected officials, as a collective, have no concept of leadership in the first place, if you ask me.  In the consummate "It's not what you know, it's who you know" community, Louisiana thrives on placing people who don't know squat about their positions in high places.  The "jobs for friends" network is a dangerous and costly one.  And who loses?  None other than the everyday working individual who needs to "make a dollar out of 15 cents" (quoting the rapper Shock G). 

Louisianans will have the opportunity, on October 22nd, to decide who the best of their choices are to represent them on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.  Yes, you and I get to elect these people, and hold their feet to the fire once they get in.  Not only do we get to vote for our favorite BESE candidates there but also state legislators.  Legislative moves in education will most certainly be affected by BESE's decisions.

Why do I target BESE?  We need folks who will make choices to best support our public high schools in getting college bound students more college-ready.  The Regents, who are appointed, are trying to strengthen state colleges and universities in a state where many students are hardly ready for two-year colleges in many cases, let alone barely graduating from high school.  Therefore, we have to drill down at the level which represents the most critical level of a child's development--the secondary education level.

We need BESE members who will find ways to strengthen programs such as Early Start and talk legislators into funding more summer bridge-type programs at state universities to help students catch up on developmental classes.  The problem is getting Louisianans to be as passionate about this issue as they are about coaching issues at LSU.  Wish us luck.