Current Events & News Archives

Louisiana Primary Election Results

Current Events & News | 10/17/2023

Brigitte Nieland Goverment Affairs Director

Louisiana Primary Election Results

Last Saturday, October 14th 2023, Louisiana voters went to the polls to vote for a new governor and in numerous legislative and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) races. The turnout was a disappointingly low 35.8 percent, but gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry (R), one of a field of 15 candidates, garnered 52 percent of the vote and emerged as the winner. Congratulations to Governor-elect Landry.

We at Stand for Children look forward to this administration and working with it to create more and better opportunities for Louisiana’s families. The inauguration will be held January 8.

Stand for Children endorsed candidates in select legislative races. Many thanks to the Endorsement Committee, who were STAND educator fellows and parent volunteers, for their effort in screening and interviewing candidates.

Some of the races were decided on Saturday, while other candidates are in a runoff. Those races will be decided in the November 18 general election. Congratulations to the winning candidates and thank you to all the candidates who ran in order to improve our state.

BESE

In BESE District 1, Stand endorsed current House member, Paul Hollis (R) who, with 71 percent of the vote won easily against Lauren Jewett (D), who received 29 percent.

In BESE District 2, Dr. Sharon Clark was elected when the other candidate was disqualified. Sandy Holloway was re-elected in District 3 without opposition.

In BESE District 4, Stand endorsed Stacey Melerine (R). Melerine had two opponents, Paige Hoffpauir (R) and Emma Shepard (D). Melerine received 47 percent and is in a runoff with Shepard, who received 30 percent. Hoffpauir came in third at 23 percent.

In BESE District 5, Stand endorsed current House Education Chair, Lance Harris (R). Harris ran against Toby Brazzel (R). Harris won outright with 67 percent of the vote. Brazzel received 33 percent.

In BESE District 6, Stand endorsed incumbent Ronnie Morris (R), who was challenged by Jodi Rollins (R). Morris won outright with 69 percent while Rollins received 31 percent.

In BESE District 7, Stand endorsed Erick Knezek (R), who ran against two other Republicans, Cathy Banks and Kevin Berken. Knezek is headed into a runoff with Berken. Berken led the field with 37 percent while Knezek was a close second with 34 percent. Banks came in third with 29 percent.

In BESE District 8, Stand endorsed incumbent Preston Castille (D), who was challenged by DeeDee Cormier-Zenon (D). Castille won with 70 percent while Cormier-Zenon received 30 percent.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

In House District 6, Stand endorsed Michael Melerine (R) who ran against Bobby Darrow (D) and Evan McMichael (NOPTY). Melerine won outright with 68 percent of the vote. Darrow received 28 percent and McMichael 4 percent.

In House District 53, Stand Endorsed Jessica Domangue (R), who ran for an open seat against Dirk Guidry and Willis Trosclair, Jr. All of the candidates are Republicans. Domangue is in a runoff with Guidry. She received 43 percent, while Guidry received 36 percent and Trosclair 21 percent.

In House District 70, Stand endorsed Barbara Freiberg (R), the incumbent representative and member of the House Education Committee. Freiberg was in a crowded race but received 39 percent, putting her in a runoff with Steve Myers (D), who received 27 percent.

In House District 73, Stand endorsed Braville LeBlanc (R) who was running against Republicans Michael Chatellier and Kim Coates. LeBlanc came in second with 37 percent but Coates was elected outright with 54 percent. Chatelier received 9 percent.

In House District 88, Stand endorsed Willie Robinson, who ran against incumbent Kathy Edmonston and Don Schexnaydre. All three are Republicans. Edmonston was re-elected with 64 percent, while Robinson received 12 percent and Schexnaydre 24 percent.

In House District 89, Stand endorsed Kim Carver (R). Carver ran in a field of four candidates and is in a runoff with Josh Allison (R). Carver led the field with 44 percent while Allison received 27 percent.

In House District 90, Stand endorsed incumbent Mary DuBuisson (R) who ran against Heide Alejandro-Smith (LBT) and Brian Glorioso. Dubuisson is now in a runoff with Glorioso. Dubuisson received 48 percent; Glorioso received 44 percent; and Alejandro-Smith received 9 percent of the vote.

In House District 91, Stand endorsed Madison O’Malley (D) who challenged incumbent Mandie Landry (D) and Ed Carlson (D). In spite of a tough campaign and O’Malley’s high-profile endorsements, Landry was re-elected with 66 percent of the vote. O’Malley received 26 percent and Carlson 9 percent.

SENATE

In Senate District 6, Stand endorsed Rick Edmonds (R), who won outright with 62 percent. Edmonds faced challenger Barry Ivey (R), who received 38 percent of the vote.

In Senate District 21, Stand endorsed Stephen Swiber (R) who ran against Robert Allain (R) and Bo LaGrange (R). Swiber ran a great race but came in third with 25 percent of the vote. Allain received 44 percent and LaGrange, 31 percent. Allain and LaGrange are in a runoff.

We will be back in November with results from the runoff.

Brigitte Nieland

Stand For Children Louisiana Government Affairs Director

SESSION WRAP UP

Current Events & News | 06/12/2023

Brigitte Nieland Goverment Affairs Director

Session Wrap Up

On Thursday, June 8, following a mad scramble to pass a budget and vote on other last-minute concurrences, the Legislature adjourned sine die. Included in the budget was $197 million dedicated to a teacher and support personnel bonus. Teachers will receive $2,000 and support workers, $1,000. The MFP did not pass, which means that this is a one-year appropriation but the House passed a resolution to ask BESE to include this amount when it creates next year’s MFP. Also included in funding were dollars for apprenticeships and differentiated funding for stipends for teachers who work in schools with a majority of students who are economically disadvantaged. It could also be used for courses where there are shortages. Additionally, $44 million was appropriated for early childhood education.

Though a fiscal session, there was quite a bit of activity in the education and criminal justice arenas. We are very happy to report that, due to your contacts with legislators, Stand’s primary legislative goals were achieved.

A priority bill for Stand was SB 111 by Sen. Royce Duplessis, which would provide resources for system upgrades to the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information and the Louisiana Supreme Court Case Management Information System in order to make the records expungement process more efficient and less costly.

The bill was passed favorably out of four committees and passed both the Senate and House floors with large margins. On June 6, the Senate concurred in the House amendments and on June 8 the bill was sent to the Governor to be signed.

Stand worked with the NEO coalition to pass the bill, which has been introduced in the Legislature for years but has previously not been successful. A recent poll commissioned by Stand showed that the concept was very popular with Republican and Independent voters and Stand effectively communicated that message to the largely conservative members of the Legislature.

As passed, SB 111:

Clarifies that the legislation does not impair the use of expunged records by law enforcement particularly for the purposes of bail setting and sentencing.
Authorizes the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information to assign a case number to each record in its database and final dispositions for those records already eligible for expungement.
Beginning January 1, 2025, a defendant may make an online request for an automated expungement. The expungement must be initiated within 30 days of the receipt of the request. The expungement is then sent to the Louisiana Supreme Court Case Management Information System. Within 30 days of receipt of the request of the records, the Louisiana Supreme Court must send notice of the expungement to the clerks of Louisiana’s district courts who then transmits the information to District Attorneys, Sheriffs and arresting agencies, who must acknowledge the expungement and sequester the records.
The bill did not expand the list of offenses eligible for expungement.
The legislation may be found here

Many thanks to Sen. Duplessis and the other legislators who passed this critical bill. This legislation will allow more citizens to get jobs, housing, and better the lives of themselves and their families while helping to improve the economy via a stronger workforce. Many thanks also to all of you who reached out to legislators throughout the committee and floor processes to support SB 111. Your contacts worked.

A second priority bill was SB 177 by Sen. Patrick McMath. This bill provides for high-dosage tutoring for students who score less than proficient in reading and/or math on state tests. The bill easily passed in both the House and Senate but a late amendment which would have gutted the bill threw the bill into Conference Committee. Fortunately, with little time to spare, the Conference Committee deleted the bad amendment and the Conference Committee report was accepted by both chambers.

In other legislation previously reported on:

HB 164 by Rep. Kenny Cox which would have lowered from 17 to 15 the required ACT score to qualify for a TOPS-Tech award. TOPS-Tech is a merit-based scholarship and lowering the ACT would result in watering down standards. When the bar is lowered, too often students do not get the specialized attention they may need to be successful. The bill garnered substantial opposition, including Stand, and it died in the Appropriations Committee.

Stand supported HB 462 by Rep. Rick Edmonds which would require public school governing authorities to post fiscal information on their websites. HB 462 passed in both chambers and has been sent to the Governor for his signature.

Stand also supported HB 242 by Rep. Stephanie Hilferty which would prohibit any form of corporal punishment in public schools unless a parent or legal guardian provides written consent for the use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline for the child. It also requires the state Dept. of Education to create the document with which a parent would provide consent each school year. This bill prohibits any form of corporal punishment for students with exceptionalities. SB 242 passed the Legislature and has been sent to the Governor.

In an effort to improve Louisiana students’ math performance, Rep. Richard Nelson introduced HB 326, a bill that Stand supported that would require foundational numeracy skills standards as a component of teacher education programs. SB 163 by Sen. Sharon Hewitt also passed. This bill requires numeracy professional development for certain teachers.

Stand opposed SB 71 by Sen. Joe Bouie which would have put duplicative (with existing law) requirements on Learning Pods. It would also have require that Pods provide transportation, though some pods are created and operated by charter schools, which are not required to provide transportation. This bill was not needed and was a transparent effort to harm this innovative public school initiative. Thanks to all of you who took action to defeat this bill. It was killed in the Senate by a vote of 15-23.

Bills of interest that Stand followed but did not take a position on included HB 12 by Rep. Richard Nelson, which prohibits promotion to the 4^th grade for students whose reading deficiencies have not been remedied by the end of 3^rd grade; and SB 197 by Sen. Barrow Peacock and SB 81 by Sen. Patrick McMath, both of which changed teacher certification requirements to allow certain people to teach before they become certified.

Session has concluded,

Brigitte Nieland

Stand For Children Louisiana Government Affairs Director

Our Children Deserve The Best

Uncategorized | 05/20/2023

Carrie Griffin Monica Stand for Children Louisiana Executive Director

It is so incredibly disappointing that this board has not followed through on its promise of executing a long-term contract for Dr. Sito Narcisse. As a result, he is now in consideration for the Broward County, Florida Superintendent job. Here is a partial list of Dr. Narcisse’s tremendous accomplishments in just two years leading the East Baton Rouge Parish School District:

• 2,200 additional quality preschool seats

• a $20 million investment in instructional materials and 53 new literacy coaches to boost third grade reading

• Focus Choice Schools and Pathways to Bright Futures that are providing students the greatest scope of career and college preparation options ever offered in East Baton Rouge

• Innovative programming that has lifted the percentage of student who finish their make-or-break ninth grade year on-track to graduate on time from 67% to 84%

• Balanced budget for two years in a row with a $111 million surplus balance at the end of the 2022-2023 school year – the largest surplus in district history – with a promised teacher pay raise

• $80 million from EBR voters through four millage renewals this spring for student resources and teacher raises.

Despite these tremendous strides forward for students, educators, and our community, the board has not ensured Dr. Narcisse will stay long-term.

Shameful.

After years of drift and because of Dr. Narcisse’s student-centered effective leadership, we are FINALLY seeing gains for ALL students in Baton Rouge. Fear, reluctance to change, and a refusal to acknowledge the strong gains being made – in spite of the facts and data – by some board members may, yet again, let our students and community down.
Our students deserve better, and we DEMAND better.

Contact Board Leaders NOW

We call upon board leadership to take immediate action to execute a contract with Dr. Narcisse that assures our school district has the sustained, effective leadership we sorely need. Dr. Narcisse

Thank you for Standing with us,

Carrie Griffin Monica,

Stand for Children Louisiana Executive Director

CAPITOL WEEK TWO IN PROGRESS

Current Events & News | 04/26/2023

Brigitte Nieland Government Affairs Director

Last week was the first full week of legislative committee meetings and it wasn’t long before the House and Senate took up important and sometimes controversial legislation. All bills and committee agendas may be found on the legislative website at legis.la.gov or the #LA LEGE app.

Last Wednesday in the Senate Education Committee, two bills that Stand is tracking were heard.

· SB 150 (Sen. Robert Mills) would create The Louisiana Literacy Advisory Commission within the State Department of Education. It was reported favorably as amended.

· SB 197 (Sen. Peacock) would revise teacher certification requirements such as the required 2.2 GPA for entrance into a teacher education program. If a student does not have the mandatory GPA, if this bill passes the student could still enter a program on a conditional basis. It also would allow a certification candidate who did not pass PRAXIS examinations to be issued a conditional teaching certificate. SB 197 was reported favorably as amended.

On Thursday, the House Education Committee met and reported favorably HB 191 (Rep. Jefferson), which would add in statute that a teacher providing instruction in a public school but not employed by the public school governing authority may be credited with his years of teaching if he is performing services for the school pursuant to a corporate contract with a company approved by BESE to provide these services and he receives a successful evaluation according to BESE policy. Stand LEAD Fellow Tibberly ______ testified in support of the bill.

This week is a very full week of committee activity. Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary C Committee will hear SB 111 (Rep. Duplessis), which would provide resources to update the technology systems at the Louisiana Supreme Court and State Police. With updated technology, expungement of criminal records of those already eligible will be more streamlined which would lessen the cost and make the process more efficient. Stand strongly supports this legislation, which would allow more citizens to get jobs, housing, and better the lives of themselves and their families while helping to improve the economy. Keep an eye out for Stand’s Action Alert requesting contacts to Judiciary C members in support of SB 111.

The House Education Committee will meet twice this week, with both days having full agendas. On Tuesday, Stand will be present to oppose HB 164 (Rep. Cox) which would lower from 17 to 15 the required ACT score to qualify for a TOPS-Tech award. TOPS-Tech is a merit-based scholarship and lowering the ACT would result in watering down standards. When standards are lowered, too often students do not get the specialized attention they may need to be successful.

We will also be there to support HB 462 (Rep. Edmonds) which would require public school governing authorities to post fiscal information on their websites.

On Wednesday, Stand will support HB 242 (Rep. Hilferty) which would prohibit any form of corporal punishment in public schools unless a parent or legal guardian provides written consent for the use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline for his child. Requires the state Dept. of Education to create the document with which a parent would provide consent each school year. This bill prohibits any form of corporal punishment for students with exceptionalities.

Stay tuned for Action Alerts and Updates!

Legislative Session Week One Recap & Looking head

Current Events & News | 04/15/2023

Brigitte Nieland Government Affairs Director | Stand for Children

Thank you, Baton Rouge!

Elections | 11/11/2022

Stand for Children Louisiana

November 8th was an important day for our parish and state. Many of our public officials were up for election or re-election, including all nine seats of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board.

We are pleased to share that five of the seven school board candidates endorsed by students, teachers, parents, and community members won their election or a spot in their district’s runoff! This is very promising for the future of East Baton Rouge Parish Schools, and we know that EBR is on the Rise! These five endorsed individuals believe in expanding access to quality early education, improving school safety, passing policies to ensure there is a quality teacher in every classroom, and that a child’s future should never be determined by their zip code. These candidates ran clean, positive campaigns focused on our most important resource: our students.

District 1: Incumbent Mark Bellue defeated challenger Dr. Kimberly Bainguel by a narrow margin. Mark’s return as a quiet and steadfast leader will be important as the district continues to implement its student-centered strategic plan.

District 2: Incumbent Dadrius Lanus defeated challenger Vereta Lee with a landslide 66% of the vote. Dadrius is a champion for equity in our district, and we look forward to his continued service in support of students across District 2 and the whole of East Baton Rouge Parish.

District 4: Shashonnie Steward will be in the December 10^th runoff against Monique Wicks Robinson. District 4 is an open seat (no incumbent running) and in the November 8^th primary, Shashonnie secured 47% of the vote to Monique’s 28%. Some of Shashonnie’s most exciting ideas including bringing a dedicated Pre-K facility to District 4 and continuing to build on the district’s efforts to improve workforce readiness opportunities for all students.

District 5: Challenger Cliff “Coach” Lewis defeated incumbent Evelyn Ware-Jackson with 54% of the vote. Coach Cliff worked incredibly hard throughout his campaign to ensure every District 5 voter heard and understood his vision for EBR students: one that uses his experience as a Coach to unite schools and families toward the common goal of supporting and educating our students.

District 7: Incumbent Mike Gaudet will face challenger Cathy Carmichael in the December 10^th runoff. Despite false negative ads attacking Mike’s character in the last days and weeks of the election, he stayed laser-focused on the facts and his undeniable student-centered track record. We will continue to support Mike in the runoff because his experience with balancing the district’s budget, level-headed and student-focused approach to every issue, support for teacher pay raises, and unwavering commitment to expand access to quality early education are too important for our district to lose if we are to keep EBR on the Rise.

Now, we cannot let off the gas. Two Stand-endorsed candidates are in runoff campaigns. They have another four weeks of campaigning until the December 10th runoff. We believe Shashonnie Steward and Mike Gaudet will be important members of the school board and we will continue to elevate their student-centered platforms and support their efforts.

Thank you, Baton Rouge, for showing up for students. We are inspired by the opportunities ahead of us.

LEARN MORE:

To learn more about the good things going on in EBR and what’s still coming, please visit https://bit.ly/ebrontherise.

If you have questions about how, when, or where to vote in the run-off, please visit the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Geauxvote webpage or the GeauxVote app.

If you would like to donate in support of the two parent-, student-, community-, and teacher-endorsed candidates who are in runoff races, please click here.

Education Professionals Selected for 2022-23 LEAD Fellowship

Current Events & News | 10/29/2022

Brigitte Nieland Government Affairs Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 29, 2022

Contact: Brigitte Nieland

Phone: 225-603-5668

Email: [email protected]

STAND FOR CHILDREN LOUISIANA ANNOUNCES 2022-23 LEAD FELLOWS

Educators from across the state selected to hone their skills as advocates for students and teachers.

(BATON ROUGE) – Stand for Children Louisiana announced today the selection of its 2022-2023 Foundational and Advanced LEAD Fellows. The LEAD Fellowship is a six-month experience that allows education professionals to work together to hone their craft, study education policy, find and elevate their voice, engage with local and state policy makers, and advocate on behalf of all students. In its eight years of operation, more than 130 educators from across the state have completed the program, many returning for multiple years. This year’s application and selection process was the most competitive to date.

“The LEAD Fellowship has equipped well over 100 of our state’s most effective educators with the information, tools, and connections they needed to take their work beyond the classroom and positively impact the processes and policies of our state’s education systems. The LEAD Fellowship allows Fellows to identify issues they want to influence, then empowers them to study the issue and address it as they see fit,” said Stand for Children Louisiana Executive Director Carrie Griffin Monica.

“If one cares about the educational success of students in our state, joining the LEAD Fellowship is a must,” said 2021-22 Foundational Fellow and 2022-23 Advanced Fellow Yulinda Marshall.

For the second year, the LEAD Fellowship will be facilitated by Kimberly Eckert. Eckert was the 2018 Louisiana State Teacher of the Year and currently serves as Dean of Undergraduate Studies for Oxford Teachers College at Reach University and is an employee of West Baton Rouge Schools where she serves as the Educators Rising Instructor & Innovative Programs and Instructional Coordinator. Eckert is deeply committed to building educator networks across the state, elevating educators’ voices, and ensuring educators are involved in every education-related decision being made in our state.

“I am continually impressed with the dedication, passion, tenacity, energy, and strength shown by the LEAD Fellows. I am a firm believer that teachers and students can do anything they put their minds to, and I truly believe this year’s Fellows are capable of making truly impactful student-centered improvements to our state’s education system,” said Eckert.

This year’s LEAD Fellows are:

Ssb Becnel, 2nd Grade Teacher, Orleans Parish
Shalonda Berry, PreK-6th Grade Principal, Avoyelles Parish
Justin Broussard, 6th-8th Grade Teacher, East Baton Rouge Parish
Anna Cain, Secondary Science Teacher and Department Head, Morehouse Parish
Tammy Chaffin, Librarian/Technology Coordinator, Livingston Parish
Tyler Colson, 6th Grade Educator, East Baton Rouge Parish
Dannon Dauzat, K-6th Grade Instructional Coach, Avoyelles Parish
Timberly Deville, LANG Education Programs, Rapides Parish serving Louisiana
Nagham Elbizri, 6th-8th Grade French and Math Teacher, Jefferson Parish
Ashley Everett, Educator & Senior Program Manager of Adolescent Health, Orleans Parish
Breanna Guidry, 9th Grade Teacher, West Baton Rouge Parish
Lyn Hakeem, School Board Chair, East Baton Rouge Parish
Tara Henderson, Assistant Principal, Tangipahoa Parish Schools
Teran James, 6th Grade Teacher, East Baton Rouge Parish
Paula Johnson, 8th Grade Teacher, St. John the Baptist Parish
Brandi Lee, 3rd Grade Teacher, Avoyelles Parish
Daven Lewis, 8th Grade Teacher, Jefferson Parish
Rachel Little, 9th-12 Grade Teacher, Orleans Parish
Alayna Maberry, 3rd-4th Grade Interventionist & MTSS Coordinator, Orleans Parish
Vasy McCoy, PreK-8th Grade School Director, Orleans Parish
Jessica Netterville, 9th-12th Grade Librarian, St. Tammany Parish
Carla Powell, 9th-12th Grade Teacher, East Baton Rouge Parish
Lisa Staples, Former Pre-K and K Educator and Current Mental Health Program Administrator, Orleans Parish
Anthony Turner, 10th-12th Grade Teacher, Pointe Coupee Parish
Dr. Turner Keller, K-12th Grade Teacher, East Baton Rouge Parish
Raven Veal, English I Virtual Educator at University View Academy, East Baton Rouge Parish
Sabrina Washington, 9th-12th Grade Teacher, Avoyelles Parish
Gretchen Wiltz, 1st-4th Grade Teacher, Zachary Community School District
Erikka Wishom, Head Start-2nd Grade Principal, East Baton Rouge Parish

For the second year, we are proud to also share the 2022-23 class of Advanced LEADers who are returning to the Fellowship to continue their advocacy journey and further elevate their collective voice to improve education throughout our state. Advanced LEADers will leverage what was learned during foundational years of the LEAD Fellowship to gain more in-depth understanding of the Fellowship’s three areas of study: Literacy, Quality Schools for All, and Juvenile/Criminal Justice.

“This is one of the most educationally invigorating programs I have ever been involved with,” said 2021-22 Advanced Fellow Lovie Howell.

The 2022-23 Advanced LEAD Fellowship will be facilitated by a team of education advocates, from left to right: Khalil Roy, Educator, Avoyelles Parish; Faten Ahmad, Educator & Adjunct Professor, Jefferson Parish; Hollis Wilson-Davis, M.Ed.-Asst. Principal, St. Mary Parish; and Keonte Wells, Educator, Avoyelles Parish.

“Some of our Advanced Fellows have been with us since 2016, challenging us to grow and adapt our programming to serve them and their experience,” said Executive Director Carrie Griffin Monica, “and we have seen some truly incredible projects and results from these exceptional educator advocates.”

This year’s Advanced LEADers are:

Kelsye Baudoin, K-5th School Librarian, Lafayette Parish
Melissa Bordelon, 1st Grade Educator and K-2nd Literacy Content Leader, Avoyelles Parish
Wiley Brazier V, Professor & Consultant, East Baton Rouge Parish
Kristen Bruce, 7th-12th Grade Teacher, Vernon Parish
Robyn Butler, English 1 Teacher and ACT Prep, East Baton Rouge Parish
Dr. Suresh Chiruguru, 9th-12th Grade Teacher, Peer-Coach, Mentor, & Teacher Leader, Calcasieu Parish
Keisha Fleming, 4th-5th Grade Teacher, Iberville Parish
Marian Jackson-Scott, Former Teacher, St. Landry Parish
Jennifer Kelly, The Center for Literacy and Learning, Ouachita Parish supporting Northeast Louisiana
Yulinda Marshall, 6th-12th Magnet Site Coordinator and 9th Grade Dual Enrollment Facilitator, East Baton Rouge Parish
Dr. Tiffanye McCoy-Thomas, PhD – Curriculum Content Supervisor, East Baton Rouge Parish
Nicole Nelson, Consultant and Instructional Coach, Caddo Parish supporting Louisiana
Karen Parrino, K Teacher and Coach to K-3rd Educators, Livingston Parish
Dr. Tonya J. Rose, Dean College of Education and Human Development at Southern University at New Orleans, Orleans Parish
Victoria Rosser, Educator and Educator Consultant, Orleans Parish
Mary Elizabeth Thibeaux-Clay, 9th-12th Career and Technical Education Administrator, St. Martin Parish
Lauren Trahan, 10th Grade Teacher and Administrator, Vermilion Parish
Jennifer Underwood, Assistant Principal, Calcasieu Parish

The LEAD Fellowship kicks off in November and will conclude in April for both Foundational and Advanced LEADers. To learn more about Stand’s LEAD Fellowships, please visit http://stand.org/louisiana/lead-fellowship. To be notified of future application deadlines, please complete this short interest form.

About Stand for Children Louisiana
Stand for Children Louisiana is a unique catalyst for education equity and racial justice, to create a brighter future for us all. For more information, please visit
www.stand.org/louisiana.

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Stand Louisiana endorses slate of student-centered candidates

Elections | 08/29/2022

Stand for Children Louisiana

After a thorough endorsement process, Stand Louisiana is proud to endorse these student-centered candidates for the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board.

Polling shows EBR community’s support for student-centered initiatives & funding

Current Events & News | 07/14/2022

The current discussion in Baton Rouge is largely centered on the budget for the 2022 – 2023 school year, which will be adopted in the next few weeks. To get a better feeling for community desires for our education system, Stand conducted a poll of 1,823 likely general election voters in EBR. The poll was conducted in May of 2022 and has a margin of error of +/- 2.68%.

Respondents were asked about five specific priority areas from the district’s strategic plan and whether a candidate’s support of that priority area would make them more or less likely to vote for that candidate. While all five priorities had over 80% of people saying a candidate’s support would make them more likely to vote for that candidate, the single highest scoring priority was investing in effective teacher training and coaching on early literacy to help children read by third grade (89%).

The second most important priority was expanding access to quality preschool so more students start kindergarten ready to learn (82%). Less than half of EBR’s kindergarteners start school ready to learn, so Stand agrees that expanding access to quality early education programs is of the utmost importance.

Providing more career and technical education courses and ensuring mental health supports/counseling resources both came in at 81% support while expanding opportunities for high school students to take advantage of courses that enable them to earn college credit received 80% support.

The data above is district-wide and there were no significant differences in support between district, party, race, or gender.

This overview of community and likely voter perspectives provides a crystal-clear picture of the community’s priorities. When considering the budget and direction of our district, Stand calls on board members to both follow the evidence of effectiveness and overwhelming level of community support for these priorities and vote in favor of the student-centered initiatives listed above.

If you would like to email your school board member and ask them to support the proposed budget, which priorities these five priorities and more, please click here.

Statement on EBR June School Board Meeting

Current Events & News | 06/22/2022

Stand for Children

Stand for Children Louisiana’s Statement in Response to East Baton Rouge Parish June School Board Meeting

For more than a decade, Stand Louisiana has advocated for improving our state’s literacy rates because we know kids who are reading on grade level by third grade are more likely to graduate high school on time and succeed in the college or the career of their choice. We are made up of more than 300 parent, teacher, and student members in EBR and more than 200 local business and faith leaders representing more than 90,000 constituents as part of our United Faith Leaders.

From installing “Little Free Libraries” across EBR and the state to increase community access to books, supporting successful legislation that expands the number of literacy coaches in our schools, successfully advocating for funding to expand local quality early education seats, supporting the expansion of the Science of Reading professional development for teachers and support staff, and successfully lobbying for more state and local funding for quality early education and reading interventions – our commitment to improving literacy rates to improve lives and pathways to prosperity for families couldn’t be more clear.

Stand Louisiana has been pleased to see EBR Superintendent Dr. Sito Narcisse’s deep commitment to improving third grade literacy rates for students across the district by expanding access to quality early education programs and making historic, evidence-based investments in literacy education. In his first year in EBR, Dr. Narcisse – with support from most board members and as outlined by the board-approved Strategic Plan – ensured that literacy coaches were placed in schools to support students and teachers, provided training and ongoing support to educators and support staff in the Science of Reading, created more than 1,000 new early education seats for families, and made critical investments to drastically expand summer programming to address learning loss due to Covid. On June 21, the district released its Literacy Blueprint for EBR that was developed by the Mayor’s Joint Task Force on Literacy – on which we are proud to serve – doubling-down on literacy as a priority not only for the district but for our city as a whole.

But – as is all too often the case in EBR – election year political posturing by some members of the board threatens to derail more than a year’s worth of progress and halt kindergarten readiness and rising literacy rates for years to come. While the tone of board meetings has been slowly devolving, June’s meeting hit an all-time low. With a few absent board members, one politician took full advantage and, in some cases, was joined by others to ultimately kill over $12 million in funding for early care and education seats and literacy supports for students and teachers.

Board Member Collins’ election year politics could stop 1,200 families from having access to quality early care seats for their three- and four-year olds. Not only will these young learners be kept from early education seats that will help them start school ready to learn, but their parents will be denied opportunities to advance their education and careers due to lack of safe, affordable childcare for their children.

In a May 2022 poll of 1,823 likely general election registered voters in EBR, 82% reported they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who prioritizes expanding access to quality preschool so more students start kindergarten ready to learn.

There is no excuse for this blatant action by Ms. Collins that will hurt the families who elected her to do right by our kids.

Stand Louisiana calls on the board to bring back the items voted down at the June board meeting and vote in favor of expanding Pre-K education, continuing critical investments in literacy and mental health supports for students, and investing in teacher professional development. We urge the board to pass these items unanimously to demonstrate board unity for students and progress. The community is watching and it is time to put students first.

Click here to sign this petition asking the EBR school board to bring early education, literacy funding, and other student & teacher supports back for another vote.