Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) has asked Gov. John Bel Edwards to cancel the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program, also known as LEAP.
BESE made the request in a letter to the governor Monday, and also included requests to waive a number of other educational requirements. The letter was written by BESE President Sandy Holloway and House Education Committee Chairman Ray Garofalo.
“In the unprecedented times we face, we must afford our educators the most flexibility in the important work they do,” Holloway and Garofalo wrote. “With that in mind, we have joined together to support efforts to afford them the most flexibility moving forward.”
Some states, including Texas, have already moved to cancel required standardized student testing.
Among the requirements BESE asked the Governor to waive:
- LEAP tests
- Public school performance assessments
- High school diploma requirements
- Teacher evaluation requirements
The letter recommended that schools could still administer state tests if schools and parents wanted to.
According to the letter, the governor needs to make the changes via executive order in order for them to become official. Edwards grants those requests, that would mean schools would not receive the highly anticipated school performance scores for the 2019-20 year.
You can read BESE’s letter to Edwards here.
