Tell BESE: Take time, do it right!

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will meet on March 29 to discuss the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

If it’s done right, we can restore the authority to local schools that was stripped away by the No Child Left Behind Act.

But if we rush the application favored by Superintendent John White, we’ll just have more of the same top-down control that frustrates teachers, parents and children!

Supt. White wants to submit his application for ESSA by April 3. Another plan, favored by Gov. John Bel Edwards, would give us time to get ESSA right and meet a September, 2017 deadline.

Waiting to get it right would allow us to:

• Strike the right balance between proficiency and student growth when we evaluate schools.
• Reduce the unnecessary testing that takes time away from teaching and learning.
• Stop the Department of Education from taking nearly one-third of Title I funds away from local school districts.

Please send a message to members of BESE before the March 29 meeting. Tell them that it is more important to get it right than to get it fast!