LOUISIANA GOVERNOR JOINS THE LAE & THE NEA AT BATON ROUGE KICK-OFF EVENT FOR 2016 ASK AN EDUCATOR TOUR
More than 100 public school employees, administrators, and students gathered at Broadmoor High School in Baton Rouge to share their perspectives on the state of Louisiana’s K-12 public education system with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. LAE President Debbie Meaux, called the event groundbreaking.
“When it comes to crafting policies for education, no voice is more important than that of the individuals working in Louisiana’s schools with Louisiana’s children every day,” Meaux said. “I’m encouraged to see we now have a leader in office who is truly committed to listening to the voices of the people he serves.”
“I’ve been fighting the fight for education for the past eight years,” Governor Edwards said. “And I’m not going to stop fighting that fight as your governor.”
The event kicked-off the nationwide Ask an Educator Listening Tour, an initiative focusing on educators’ feedback on the major issues currently impacting public schools. In 2015, the NEA established mini-town hall events in conjunction with their affiliates across the nation, where association representatives traveled to schools in their respective states to meet with members in order to provide them with an opportunity to elevate their voices. These events, coined “listening tours,” were so successful that the NEA initiated a second round of tours for 2016.
NEA Secretary-Treasurer Princess Moss, who represented the NEA at the Louisiana kick-off event, said the tours are extremely effective in allowing the most important education stakeholders to hear directly from the men and women working in our public schools.
“Teachers and school support professionals want to see policies in place that truly focus on the educational experiences of all students,” Moss said. “The Ask an Educator tour truly provides teachers, support professionals, and parents with an opportunity to offer feedback in order to help contribute to positive change for public school students.”
Some of the major issues addressed during the discussion included testing, teacher evaluations, Common Core State Standards, and the need to increase the amount of time devoted to positive, compelling learning experiences for students.
“Our members are a powerful resource when it comes to the association’s efforts to promote educational excellence,” Meaux said. “We will use the feedback from our meetings in order to guide us in our legislative efforts, and ultimately, in collaboration with the new administration.”
Moss said the NEA’s mission is to work with affiliate groups across the nation to accomplish this same goal.
“It is our hope that we can be the facilitator in helping our nation’s hardworking educators build deeper relationships with the communities they work in and with the students they serve,” said Moss.
The LAE team kept the momentum of the event going with a series of school visits across the state. Find out more about the progress made, within this issue.
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Debbie Meaux, President
March 2016 certainly brought storms to our great state - both literally and figuratively. Positive thoughts are being sent to all those who have been affected by the floodwaters that inundated so many Louisiana communities. Good vibes are also being sent to our new governor, as he grapples not only with the cleanup following the devastating weather, but also the reality of Louisiana’s stilllooming fiscal crisis.
The special session came and went with no budget balance in sight. Certain legislators made it their mission to set up road blocks to needed revenue-raising avenues, forcing lawmakers into a cycle of legislative sessions that will run on until a solution to the state’s serious budget gaps are finalized.
The regular session is now underway, and of course, the LAE will play a very active role in protecting the professional lives of our members, and more importantly, the educational landscape for the state’s public school students. This year our work at the state capitol will be marked through a shared endeavor with the Louisiana Federation of Teachers as both organizations’ views surrounding the most pressing K-12 issues align identically. In the past, we’ve successfully joined forces to push for positive change. Our previous efforts include restoring sanity to the state’s school accountability system and due process procedures. In 2016, our efforts will focus on curbing the amount of time spent taking standardized tests so that the precious time needed to teach can finally be restored. We will also work to limit for-profit charter proliferation and push for a stronger system of reporting on both financial and academic matters so that all schools being funded with state dollars follow the same, strict accountability measures.
As the 2015-16 school year draws to a close, keep an eye out for LAE representatives in your school. Our staff will host a number of Listening Tours across the state, and it is our hope that we can meet and talk with Louisiana’s educators – both members and potential members – about the concerns you have about district policies and the needs you have in your classroom. It is the LAE’s mission to be in-tune with the members. Association leaders and staff use member feedback in testimony before legislative committees, BESE, and other entities that have a say in the crafting of state education policy. The same information is also used to help us build meaningful professional and leadership development programs.
If you’ve visited Baton Rouge in the past few weeks, you may have noticed that the LAE headquarters building is sporting a new look. There are two upcoming initiatives that I am asking you to get behind: the LAE B.O.L.D. campaign and the #ThankAnEducator initiative. B.O.L.D. is an acronym outlining the association’s focus for the coming year – to Build, Organize, Lead, and Demand. Over the next several months, it is our mission to get LAE members on board as we work together empowering educators to stand up for the best interests of their professions. Any activities we do in the coming months will fall under one of these areas of focus. Please be sure to stay tuned for more information on this exciting campaign by visiting lae.org/laebold. Together, let us all be LAE proud, LAE strong, LAE B.O.L.D.
In an effort to show gratitude to our dedicated school employees, LAE will host “Thank An Educator Day” at the Louisiana State Capitol on May 4, 2016 from 10 AM until 2 PM. We invite public school teachers and support professionals to join us for a day of acknowledgement by state lawmakers, as well as LAE leaders and staff. We encourage all who attend to come prepared to speak with their legislators – not just about areas of concern, but also about stories of success. We hope you can join us as we honor all of your hard work, but if you are unable, let me extend my gratitude for all that you do for the children of Louisiana. We encourage you to use #thankaneducator on your social media platforms in an effort to show appreciation to your colleagues, or even the educators who impacted you in a positive way. Join me in showing some love to our state’s finest!
LAE continues to grow and expand its reach across the public education spectrum. Our mission is to be the go-to organization for one-of-a-kind professional and leadership development opportunities. If you have not already heard, the association recently launched the LAE Teaching & Learning Center (LAE-TLC). We are currently in the process of building this program through the training of member-educators to present innovative, relevant workshops with topics ranging from classroom management to cultural competency. The center is a partner with the National Board Certification Support Network on a Louisiana-NBCT Networkwhere nationally board certified teachers – past and present – have an outlet to offer their expertise to certification hopefuls. I welcome you to visit lae.org/teachingandlearning to learn more about program offerings and upcoming events. We welcome member engagement as participants and/or as presenters. If you wish to share your expertise in an area that we have not yet considered, please email me at [email protected].
In closing, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you for your work as professionals, but most importantly, thank you for inspiring the lives of Louisiana’s children. Your time, love, and effort in providing the best educational opportunities to our state’s public school students is acknowledged and celebrated by all LAE leaders.
In Solidarity,
Debbie Meaux
LAE STAFF MEMBERS BRING ASK AN EDUCATOR LISTENING TOUR TO SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ACROSS THE STATE LAE LAUNCHES B.O.L.D. CAMPAIGN
LAE LEADERS AND STAFF CONTINUE INITIATIVE TO FURTHER TO DIALOGUE SURROUNDING THE CURRENT STATE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The LAE team hit the ground running after February’s national Ask an Educator Listening Tour kick-off event. So far, President Meaux and members of the LAE staff have traveled to several regions across the state in order to engage teachers and support professionals in discussions surrounding the current triumphs, struggles, and needs of those working in our state’s public schools. The crew recently visited with educators in Calcasieu, Catahoula, East Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Livingston, Madison, Ouachita, Sabine, and Tensas parishes. President Meaux said the goal is to be a facilitator in helping Louisiana’s hardworking educators build deeper relationships with the communities they work in and with the students they serve.
“We want to hear from educators about issues we know they are passionate about,” Meaux said. “School employees’ voices are valuable tools in the crafting of more sound educational policies that stand to benefit Louisiana’s students. We’ve heard about issues ranging from the concern over the frequency and misuse of standardized tests to increasing the amount of time to teach. We will take all areas into consideration as we work to communicate educators’ needs to legislators during the 2016 session.”
The team has also received feedback which will help inform the association’s areas of focus for program offerings for the LAE’s new Teaching and Learning Center.
LAE UniServ staff are scheduled to make stops in Caldwell, Catahoula, Iberia, Lafayette, St. John, St. Mary, Tensas, and Terrebonne parishes over the coming weeks. If you are interested in hosting the LAE team at your school, please contact LAE UniServ Manager Kenton Cooper at [email protected].
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