The Louisiana Public School Coalition hosted a series of BESE candidate forums across the state from September 16 through October 3.
Tonight's meeting was held at the Breaux Bridge Library.
The forums were designed to give new and incumbent candidates for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education an opportunity to speak directly to their constituencies about the issues facing public education and the solutions the candidates propose.
BESE serves three primary roles in the education of Louisiana students K-12.
1. BESE hires the State Superintendent of Education, the administrative head of the Louisiana Department of Education
2. BESE adopts the rules and regulations that generally govern the operation of public schools and school districts
3. Propose the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), the state funding formula for public schools and school districts. Other important functions include approving Type 2 charter schools, approving non-public schools, and overseeing teacher certification.
Each electable BESE seat is up for grabs this year. The candidates and their platforms will directly impact over 700,000 public school students and tens of thousands of education professionals.
