Lottie Beebe, an elected member of the state school board in Louisiana, spoke out bravely at the last meeting.
She decried the privatization of public education.
She questioned why the state was spending nearly $1 million to bring in ill-trained TFA members even as districts are paying an additional $2,000-4,000 for each TFA recruit.
She asked why the board had hired a TFA person to be its executive director.
She was, of course, voted down.
Governor Bobby Jindal controls the board.
The last person elected to the board is the executive director of TFA in New Orleans.
Lottie Beebe believes in public education; she believes that children should have well-prepared professional teachers.
She is out of fashion.
But she is right. When we compare ourselves to the top-performing nations in the world, they all have strong public school systems staffed by professional educators.
Now I will have to create a new category for brave members of state and local school boards. I hope it is a long list.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I am lucky to have Mrs. Beebe represent myself and fellow teachers here in Louisiana. I am also lucky to have worked closely with her and consider her a friend. She is a strong advocate for teachers and public education. She has strong convictions and speaks up even when she knows the deck is stacked against her. We need more brave people like her to represent us at both the state and federal level. She is not afraid to stand up to the bullies at our state department. When she first ran for her seat on the board, she refused to be bought out by those who wanted to control the education agenda in our state. The other elected board members appear to be in the governor’s back pocket. But not Mrs. Beebe. She refuses to give in to those who want to sell out our state’s public schools to private corporations. Thank you, Lottie. We need more brave souls like you. Keep up the great work!
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Ms. Beebe was elected despite the odds. There was so much money floating around during the BESE campaigns to all those who Gov. Jindal wanted elected to that board. Never before was there such focus on getting members elected that would be beholding to Jindal. It was important for him to get the approval for John White as the next state superintendent. It was important to have the votes to help support his education reform plan that he was about to unveil. Ms. Beebe was
elected in her district not by big money contributors but by her integrity, belief in public schools and professionalism as an educator. She may be the lone dissenting vote recorded on BESE,. yet she is not alone. There are many who are glad she is thinking, asking questions and not drinking the Jindal/White kool-aid
She S
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I earned a Ph.D. In Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana’s flagship university to strengthen my pedagogy and to live in the joy of learning. With each passing day my degree is becoming irrelevant. Do I have grounds to demand the return of tuition and punitive damages for establishing what are now false certification and academic advancement requirements that are no longer needed to be a teacher in Louisiana?
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If I were you, I’d contact a lawyer! How about consulting with the ACLU?
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I had the same question and asked our regional rep. She laughed and said, “No one forced you to go to school for that!” I am trying to find out if the salary schedule is being changed and will no longed acknowledge masters and advanced degrees. I called BR DOE but after three phone transfers and no answers I gave up. I am a few hours from a second masters (I have an MA in Administration that they will not recognize since it is not educational administration) and after scraping the money together all these years to go to school so I can be better in the classroom the LFT rep said the state is considering a salary schedule change, freezing salaries at current rates and the only way to get a raise is to be highly effective. Just can’t find the info about this or discussion at the state level. Most likely one of their secret meetings
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I wish we had someone like Ms. Beebe on our local school board. Our district is conducting a search for a new superintendent, and the head of our BOE says he wants to hire someone like Michelle Rhee.
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You can add Thomas Ratliff of Texas to your list Diane
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Betty Peters of South Carolina
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Can you send supporting information?
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Correction: Betty Peters, Alabama State School Board member, pushed for the State Board to revisit their vote on the Common Core standards.
http://www.alabamaschoolboards.org/StateBoardNews_11_10_2011.html
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Pat Deutchman, Citrus County Florida.
http://www.chronicleonline.com/content/high-stakes-testing-resolve-reverse-trend
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Hillsborough School Board President, Susan Valdes, includes language in the district resolution on high stakes assessment that specifically addresses English Language Learners and exceptional students, in testing and accountability systems.
http://esolfl.blog.com/tf-resolution-hillsborough-county-school-board-on-testing-in-paragraph-5-asks-the-florida-legislature-and-department-of-education-to-ensure-appropriate-accommodations-and-alternate-ways-to-assess/
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Rick Roach of Orange County, FL not only took the FCAT, he publicized his results and has begun campaigning against is as the be-all and end-all of Florida education policy. As you can imagine, he’s not very popular with some higher-ups. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-05-02/features/os-fcat-video-school-board-20120502_1_fcat-exams-school-board-member-florida-comprehensive-assessment-test
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Diane, you are my hero. Thank you for your untiring efforts to keep everyone informed of what is happening in Louisiana. We must continue to be vocal and strive to educate the public to the truth regarding education reform. I think your latest effort is remarkable! I think it is a wonderful idea to recognize those who stand up for students and traditonal public schools. I hope your list is infinite.
Again, let me say I decided to seek the BESE position because of my desire to see positive changes in the education profession–contrary to the train wreck
that is destined to occur. I attended a National Association of State School Boards’ meeting in Washington, DC in July and had the opportunity to hear a speaker say the following: No state should implement a teacher evaluation program with a 50% value added component–particularly, with the roll out of the Common Core (CC) curriculum. He specifically stated there will be a decline in student achievement due to the rigor of the (CC). Consequently, there will be a greater number of teachers who will receive an ineffective rating. What are we doing in Louisiana? (50% Value-Added)
To add insult to injury, we are rolling out the teacher evaluation program statewide without a full year of piloting. My school district was one of nine participating school districts and the rubric used during the 4 month pilot was scrapped for another. Using a quote from another state–New York–“we are building the plane as we fly it!” Make no mistake about it, I am not anti-teacher evaluations. Teacher evaluations have been in place for years in Louisiana; however, a few districts neglected to evaluate annually. This fact was used during the 2012 Louisiana Legislative session to garner support for education reform and to vilify teachers, in my opinion.
During my participation at the National Association of State Boards of Education, I was amazed to hear another presenter mention the year, 2014, will likely be education’s Armaggedon–“eduggedon” or edu–cliff. I agree with this assessment due to the likely decline in student achievement, increased teacher ineffective ratings, and the negative campaign against educators and traditional schools.
This reform movement is, by design, to dismantle tradional public schools and the aforementioned prediction is what will likely convince many that our traditional schools are dismal failures. We must continue our efforts to educate the public and do everything we can to promote excellence. When our students succeed, we must celebrate and publicize their success. There are many outstanding traditional schools in this country and Louisiana. As a grandparent of two grandsons enrolled in Louisiana’s public schools, I can proudly say they are receiving a quality education at C rated schools which are deemed failing by Louisiana’s standards. (Somebody, please tell me when did a C become a failing grade?) Someone obviously lied to me! I was always told a C grade was average.
Thanks to all who responded to Diane’s call. I truly appreciate the emails! I also want to publicly express my gratitude to Ms. Carolyn Hill, my BESE colleague. I want to publicly thank the members of the Louisiana Legislature who had the intestinal fortitude to stand up to ALEC and the governor –those who voted against Act 1 and Act 2–Choice. Often, criticism is generically stated; yet, there are many legislators who did not drink the Kool-aid. On behalf of Louisiana’s educators, I want to thank them. Thanks to all of the other courageous educators who stand before our students each day providing a valuable service–educating and molding our future!
Lottie P. Beebe, District 3
Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
lottieb@cox.net
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