Louisiana Believes

Sorry, John White. 
Louisiana does not believe. 
At least the vast majority of Louisiana teachers. 

Here are a few reasons:

1. Whoever decided to rename the Louisiana Department of Education website "Louisiana Believes", probably wasn't from Louisiana.
2. The majority of people in administrative positions at the Louisiana Department of Education are not from Louisiana. Also the majority of deputy superintendents don't have substantial classroom experience. In fact, now that you've changed the website, we have NO idea who's in charge of anything anymore or what their qualifications are.
3. The "redesign" of the Department website is  awful.  It's very difficult to navigate.
4. Teachers in Louisiana spent years contributing to Making Connections.  It was a library of lessons that had been developed and tested.  The lessons went with the Grade Level Expectations (GLEs). They could easily be aligned to CCSS, but they have disappeared from the website.
5. Visit any other state's website and you can find great resources for CCSS implementation.  It's sad when Louisiana teachers have to look to Utah, Tennessee, North Carolina, as well as other states for guidance.
6. The superintendent of the department believes anyone with a degree can be a teacher. We believe  those who choose to be  classroom teachers, because they love children and love teaching, are the people who can be  teachers.
7. In a webinar addressing COMPASS challenges, your answer to questions from teachers was most frequently "greater guidance is needed".  We are still waiting.
8. Perhaps the biggest reason we don't " believe" is the fact that you, John White, said the teachers retiring this year were "most likely ineffective".  So insulting.