Acadiana native Picard flourished under two different governors, having been appointed in 1996 under Mike Foster. He oversaw sweeping changes to Louisiana's public schools, initiated tougher testing, gave birth to the accountability movement and launched special classes for 4-year-olds that are being copied by other states. Prior to this leadership role, he was a state senator, principal and teacher. Unlike many other bureaucrats, Picard came into the job with hands-on experience.
Knowing there was no treatment or cure for his disease, Picard returned to his Lafayette home late last year following his announcement of a May 1 retirement. To keep abreast of work at the department, Picard calls into Baton Rouge almost daily. However, he is no longer accepting media interviews and considers his current medical condition to be private, says Meg Casper, department spokeswoman.
The 11-member BESE is charged with replacing Picard, but no decision has been made as to how the search should proceed. Furthermore, according to board president Linda Johnson of Plaquemine, no official applications have been submitted for the job. It's a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort right now, mainly carried by whispers and private phone calls. One possible successor is reportedly House Speaker Joe Salter, a term-limited Democrat who formerly served as assistant superintendent for Sabine Parish. Carole Wallin, the department's deputy secretary, is also reportedly in the running.
Johnson says the board will discuss the matter at its meeting this month. Possibilities include a national search or promoting someone from inside the department. Either way, it will be an unprecedented appointment. If a new superintendent is selected in the coming months, that successor may have to go through further interviews next year, because eight new board members will be elected in the fall and take office in January 2008. "They could then decide to go with someone else, or they could keep them in place," Johnson says.
She says the next superintendent should be prepared to continue reforms initiated under the previous administration and be a vocal champion of education accountability. A keen eye should also be given to closing the learning gap between ethnicities. And the board needs to fast-track the selection process. "You want to put your money on something that isn't temporary or an interim," Johnson says. "That can be a hindrance."
The next superintendent will also be faced with addressing the challenge of operating a statewide school system with growing needs even though the number of students is decreasing. If Louisiana's devastating out-migration trend wasn't enough to drive down college enrollment and thin the pipeline of incoming high school grads, the state's top education officials also contend the slow pace of recovery is making a major dent as well.
Federal funding is on the line, along with the state's reputation, and the ongoing problems could cause Louisiana to slip further down the ranks in various lists. Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie says it will be a long haul back up. "Our supply of high school graduates has been steadily declining since about 2000," he says. "That decline was accelerated by the storms, and it looks like it will be several years before graduation numbers recover."
It's anticipated that the end of the next school year will see 3,000 fewer high school graduates in the state. Additionally, more than 58,000 elementary and secondary school students displaced by Katrina and Rita are expected to miss enrollment next year as well. Savoie says his department is working on a number of initiatives, including alterations to current high school curriculums. Dual enrollment for high school students to take college-credit courses is in the works, as are new college prep offerings.
Research indicates, though, that the most efficient way for a state to expand access to postsecondary education is to increase its investment in student financial aid. Savoie says details are still being hammered out by BESE, but a program is in the works that will provide opportunities to the economically disadvantaged and will encourage a shared responsibility for the costs of college among the student, their family, the institution and the state.
A major push will have to be made by the next superintendent to give these initiatives legs. Johnson says BESE knows what kind of leader the state needs; the trick is identifying those candidates and convincing them to take the job. "It would just be great if we could get another Cecil again," Johnson says, "but that's not going to happen."
JUNE 19 Former Saint Steve Gleason, who is paralyzed by ALS, released a statement Tuesday in response to the Atlanta radio station's skit making fun of him and the disease, this Picayune post reports. What did he say? He said he'd accepted the apology of the DJs who did it, notes that at least the incident has got people talking about ALS, and asks anyone who is burning to take action about it to do so -- by helping him fight ALS.
JUNE 19 Blogger Ian McGibboney takes a look at the Gleason incident in this post. He makes a good argument about the difference between having free speech and being free from consequences for your speech (which none of us is). He also admits that many of us got upset before we listened to the skit -- but lets us know that the reality is far worse than we can imagine. It was the incredibly bad judgment, even more than the actual speech, that probably got those DJs fired, he opines.
JUNE 19 Washington Post blogger Aaron Blake writes about Sen. Guillory's switch to the GOP in this post. He writes what most political watchers in Louisiana know: Guillory was a Republican before he decided to run for the senate seat in a mostly-D St. Landry district, and has switched back now that he plans to run for Lt. Gov. in a mostly-R state. But how come Blake missed Guillory's appearance on a TLC pageant show? Now that is a video we'd like to see. (Again).
JUNE 19 Here's another Washington Post blog post about a Louisiana politician, and it's just plain scathing. Ezra Klein says Jindal's Politico post was "insulting" to the intelligence of voters, and adds that Jindal is personifying the "stupid" he's railed against, by being an "elite" who convinces GOP activists of "things that aren't true." Me-ow.
JUNE 19 Here's Gov. Jindal's post in Politico, in which he asks the GOP to get over losing to Obama (again) and stop "the bedwetting." (Uh, what?) He gives his Republican buddies what is probably a nerd's idea of a coach's motivational talk, which starts with a list of accomplishments that they can't seem to exploit and ending with an absurd description of liberals that sounds like a character treatment for a Fox "News" movie scripted by Gordon Liddy. Sure, he's preaching to the choir, but even the choir's not this gullible.
JUNE 19 Lamar Parmentel read Gov. Jindal's post on Politico, but thinks it was so dumb it probably was published in the wrong paper. This post by Lamar on the Daily Kingfish opines that possibly Jindal's post was destined for the Onion -- because the governor couldn't possibly be serious here. If you listen closely, you can hear the staff of the Kingfish giggling.
JUNE 19 Blogger Robert Mann posts from Turkey, a country he has visited several times in the past few years. Mann gives an interesting overview of the current political and societal climate of the country, which -- if you're living under a rock and don't know -- is experiencing protests and turmoil these days. Mann promises to post as much as he can during his trip, which should be fascinating reading.
JUNE 19 Blogger CB Forgotston says the legislature is keeping the vicious cycle going with its funding of new buildings for the community college/technical college system. Universities across the state need maintenance and improvement on existing buildings, and the solution is to build new buildings at other schools? By the time the bonds are paid off, those buildings will be falling down, too, CB says.
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