SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/AP) – The Louisiana Department of Education has released the resumes of all 20 candidates vying to become the state’s next superintendent.
The position officially will become open Wednesday when the resignation of current superintendent, John White becomes official. White resigned in January after eight years in the position.
The applicants include higher education professionals from schools in Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee, as well as public school teachers, a Louisiana teacher’s union representative and other consultants, administrators and educators holding posts nationwide. An Arkansas Department of Education official, as well as a former Kentucky education chief, have also applied for the position, news outlets reported.
Five candidates are from out-of-state, with one each from Arkansas, California, Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. The rest are from Louisiana.
With the exceptions of Charlotte Crowley, retired educator and former Caddo Parish School Board member, and Heather Poole, vice-chancellor at Central Louisiana Technical College in Alexandra, all are from south Louisiana.
However, Cade Brumley, superintendent of Jefferson Parish Schools, is from northwest Louisiana and served as DeSoto Parish Superintendent of Schools from 2012-2018 prior to accepting the position with Jefferson Parish.
The list of candidates is as follows:
- Jessica Baghian
- Derek Bardell
- Cade Brumley
- Charlotte Crawley
- Mark Curry-Theriot
- Michael Duff
- Carlos Lee
- Wayne Lewis
- Debbra Lindo
- Lonnie Luce
- Matt Neely
- Anthony Owen
- Chanel Payne
- Heather Poole
- Joe Siedlecki
- Stephen Stewart
- David Trauntenberg
- Paul Vallas
- Vialouphia Wattree
- Ashonta Wyatt
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member Kira Orange Jones is chairwoman of the working group that will help select White’s successor. She called the list of applicants “a very diverse and talented pool of educational leaders” in an update released Saturday, one day after the application window closed.
Jones has said she hopes the panel will agree on White’s successor at its two-day meeting April 20 and 21. At least eight of the 11 board members must vote to approve the new hire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click here to view the resumes of all candidates
