JON GLOVER
So why did you pull that lever in the voting booth for the candidate you did? What about that candidate made you know he/she would be the one? Had you done any vetting of the candidate you cast your vote for, or were you told by someone how to vote? What did you do to ensure that your vote, so vitally important, would support the one true candidate that would take the seat on the BESE Board for District 4? Was it party affiliation? Race? What was really at the core of why one versus another? At the end of the election for the member of the
At the end of the election for the member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Saturday, March 20, two candidates -- Cassie Williams and Michael Merlerine -- now meet in a runoff.
Who will represent us -- 10 parishes, 96,784 boys and girls -- on the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, regardless of party affiliation, even race, only time will reveal.
The tasks for the chosen candidate are “oversight and planning responsibilities for the Louisiana Department of Education, establishing minimum funding levels for local schools and management of the state’s educational funds, and the holding of administrative hearings to resolve education-related disputes.” Enormous. Ten parishes -- Bienville, Bossier, Caddo,
Ten parishes -- Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, Vernon, Webster and Winn -- and 96,784 boys and girls are depending on the next member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to make sure that resources are available to meet the academic needs of all.
The $1.9 trillion stimulus package, now approved, will send about $130 billion to K-12 schools. How many of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package will be appropriated for the Louisiana is yet to be determined.
The newly assigned member will take his/her place on the BESE board to represent the interest of the citizens of the 10 parishes that make up District 4, but more than that, the thousands of boys and girls in public education.
On Saturday, April 24, the voters will enter the voting booth again, pulling that lever that yields the next member on the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for District 4. Who will it be, Cassie Williams, Shreveport assistant professor at Louisiana State University-Shreveport, or Michael Merlerine, attorney? Who will the voters choose for District 4?
On April 24, the voters will decide -- Williams or Merleri
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE April 9 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.