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WHAT IS BESE?
The letters B-E-S-E stand for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education was established as a constitutional body during the 1973 Constitutional Convention.

BESE became the administrative policy-making body for elementary-secondary schools, and in accordance with the Constitution, eight elected members from the eight BESE districts serve on the Board along with three members-at-large appointed by the Governor. The Board sets key education initiatives and strives to provide leadership in setting an education agenda for the continuous improvement of public education as measured by student and school achievement.

BESE operates through a system of standing committees. Among these committees is the Student and School Standards/Instruction committee. This committee considers all matters relative to student and school standards. Any matters, from the electives you are required to take to which textbooks students are using in class, are looked at, researched, and approved by this committee. Being that this committee considers matters allocated to student standards, a student representative is chosen to serve on this committee as the only student representative to serve on the Louisiana Board of Education.

 

 

SBESE Selection Process
 
Every year the Louisiana Association of Student Councils (LASC) selects one student throughout the state to represent the students of Louisiana as the student representative on the BESE board. The selection process begins with high school juniors from each school in LASC to turn in a resume. This resume consists of a picture, the student's transcript, three letters of recommendation, student activity sheet, and an essay. The LASC Executive board reviews these resumes and among them selects six finalists. These six finalists must then attend the LASC State Convention in January to be interviewed by the SBESE selection board. This interview takes place on the first day of the convention. During the interview the finalist is asked a series of questions ranging from "Who are the members of the BESE Board?" to "What was your most memorable childhood moment?". On the second day of the convention, at one the general sessions, the student who was selected is announced, as well as the runner-up who takes over the position if the other should not be able to. The student then takes over the position at the April committee meeting.